Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Panama Papers a US plot, says Putin

In his first remarks on the subject, the Russian leader also defended the cellist Sergei P. Roldugin, a friend who was named in the reports about the leaked documents.

If successful Verizon is thought to be likely to replace Yahoo chief executive Marissa Mayer.

Google, Verizon pursue Yahoo's website

US phone company Verizon and Google are considering competing bids for Yahoo's web business, which could be worth $US11 billion ($14.5 billion).