In his interview with Bloomberg, Putin said: "They're both using shock tactics, just each in their own way. I don't think they are setting the best example."
The Bloomberg report noted that Putin, who has won praise and a pledge to improve ties from Trump while facing attacks from Clinton, stuck repeatedly to his position that he has no preferred candidate and would work with whoever wins.
"While his purported predilections have been the subject of bitter invective from both sides, in public at least, Putin didn't show much enthusiasm for either one," the report added.
When asked about the allegations that his government hacked into DNC servers, he said allegations were nothing but another instance of playing the "anti-Russian card."
"There's no need to distract the public's attention from the essence of the problem by raising some minor issues connected with the search for who did it. But I want to tell you again, I don't know anything about it, and on a state level, Russia has never done this," the Russian leader pointed out.
In July, Clinton accused Russian intelligence services of hacking into the DNC servers, while accusing Trump soliciting support from Putin.
Beyond bemoaning the candidates' use of Russia in their attacks, Putin didn't spell out what campaign tactics in the U.S. he found distasteful.
At one point, however, he described the candidates as "very smart people" who "understand which buttons you need to press" to win support. The resulting attacks, he said, are part of the U.S. political culture.
