Nigel Farage has responded to a newspaper report claiming he is a "person of interest" in the FBI's investigation into Donald Trump and Russia, as "hysterical" and "fake news".

The former Ukip leader has "raised the interest" of FBI investigators because of his relationships with individuals connected to both the Trump campaign and Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, the Guardian reported.

Its source said he has not been accused of any wrongdoing and is not a suspect or target of the US investigation.

The 53-year-old called the claims "extremely doubtful" because he has "no connections" to the country.

Farage also said he met WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange "with a view to conducting an interview".

"This is absurd, truly absurd," a UKIP spokesman said when asked about the report.

The newspaper quoted a source as saying: "One of the things the intelligence investigators have been looking at is points of contact and persons involved.

"If you triangulate Russia, WikiLeaks, Assange and Trump associates, the person who comes up with the most hits is Nigel Farage.

"He's right in the middle of these relationships. He turns up over and over again. There's a lot of attention being paid to him."