Vladimir Putin has blamed opposition protests in Moscow on the US government, which he claimed had given a “signal” to activists after Russian parliamentary elections on Sunday, writes Courtney Weaver in Moscow.

Still reeling from results that left the Kremlin’s ruling party with less than half of the vote, the prime minister reserved special ire for Hillary Clinton, US secretary of state. “I watched the first reaction of our American partners. The first thing that the secretary of state did was say [the elections] were dishonest and unfair, although she had still not received the material from [international] observers,”?Mr?Putin?said at a meeting of the leadership of the All Russia Popular Front, an organisation that will help run Mr Putin’s presidential campaign in March. “She set the tone that gave some activists a signal. They heard this signal and, under the support of the US state affairs, began their work.”

Mr Putin claimed “hundreds of millions of dollars” of foreign money had poured into Russia before the poll. “When foreign money is invested in the political activities inside the country, this should make us think. And when they start to influence some internal organisation?.?.?.?well this is unacceptable,” he said, apparently referring to Golos, the election watchdog, which has faced harassment from Russian authorities.