US hacking claims: Obama told Putin to 'cut it out'

President Barack Obama has said that he ordered Russia's Vladimir Putin to "cut it out" in a conversation about email hacking ahead of the US election.

Implying that the Russian president knew about the hacks, Mr Obama said: "Not much happens in Russia without Vladimir Putin."

The president said he had warned Mr Putin of serious consequences at a summit in September.

A month later, the US accused Russia of meddling in its democratic process.

The president has promised a "proportional" response to the hacking of the Democratic Party and of emails belonging to defeated presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's campaign chairman.

He appeared to suggest that the US could go on the offensive with its own cyber muscle, stating: "Whatever they do to us, we can potentially do to them."

Mr Obama's comments came during his last news conference of the year.

The president did not criticise his successor, Republican Donald Trump, by name, but said some Republicans were failing to acknowledge the seriousness of Russia's involvement in the US election.

He also expressed bewilderment over GOP supporters who say they approve of Mr Putin, declaring: "Ronald Reagan would roll over in his grave."

The president urged Mr Trump to back a bipartisan investigation into Russian cyber intrusions.

Earlier this week, Donald Trump poured scorn on US intelligence claims that Russian hackers helped swing the election in his favour, calling them ridiculous and politically-motivated.

He tweeted: "Can you imagine if the election results were the opposite and WE tried to play the Russia/CIA card. It would be called conspiracy theory!"

CIA Director John Brennan told employees on 16 December that the FBI agrees with the CIA's conclusion that Russia's goal was to help Mr Trump win.

The Kremlin denies US claims that Russia hacked official emails, and has called them "indecent".

"They need to either stop talking about this or finally present some sort of proof," Mr Putin's spokesman said.