The Kremlin shrugged off a Fox News host's refusal to apologize for comments he made about Russian President Vladimir Putin, but said his remarks reflected badly on the U.S. channel.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Tuesday the episode showed that it and O'Reilly had a different understanding of what common courtesy meant and quipped that the Kremlin would return to the matter in 2023. "This is a very unfortunate incident for the Fox company at least in our eyes," said Peskov, who said O'Reilly's behavior had reflected badly on the broadcaster, a top-rated U.S. cable news network. Peskov suggested the Kremlin would not pursue the matter further however. "We are not inclined to exaggerate this or to blow this out of proportion," said Peskov.

US Fox News television presenter Bill O'Reilly on Monday refused to apologize to Russian President Vladimir Putin after describing him as "a killer." "Apparently the Putin administration in Moscow [is] demanding that I, your humble correspondent, apologize for saying old Vlad is a killer," said O'Reilly on his television show broadcast on Monday evening. "So I'm working on that apology but it may take a little time ... might want to check in with me around 2023," he continued.

In comments carried by Russian state news agency TASS, a Kremlin spokesman had earlier said O'Reilly's comments were "insulting and impermissible" and insisted that Putin was due an apology from "such a respectable television network."

O'Reilly, questioning Trump's respect for Putin, had emphasized in an interview broadcast on Sunday that "Putin's a killer."

Trump responded: "There are a lot of killers. We've got a lot of killers. What do you think? Our country's so innocent?"

Trump has vowed to improve relations with Russia, despite US intelligence reports which say Moscow was behind a hacking campaign aimed at influencing last year's presidential election in his favor.