NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has denied an allegation made by President Vladimir Putin that he recorded and leaked a private conversation between them.
Speaking at an annual televised call-in with the nation on Thursday, Putin said that Rasmussen, during his term as Danish prime minister, secretly recorded a discussion that the two men were having, before passing it on to the Danish media.
Rasmussen's spokesman on Friday dismissed the allegations as "complete nonsense," Danish daily Politiken reported.
NATO also rubbished Putin's comments.
"To divert attention away from its own illegal and illegitimate actions in Ukraine, Russia has leveled a series of accusations against NATO which distort the facts," NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu said, Reuters reported.