Russia played no role in Austrian govt downfall: Kremlin

The Kremlin said on Monday that Russia was in no way involved in a political scandal in Austria after the country's vice-chancellor was shown on video offering to fix state contracts with a woman posing as a Russian oligarch's niece.

Vice-Chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache of the far-right Freedom Party resigned on Saturday as vice chancellor and party leader after the video was released by two German news organisations. He acknowledged that the video was "catastrophic" but denied breaking the law.

When asked about the scandal on Monday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that the incident "does not have and could not have anything to do with us."