UK, Germany, & France ‘grossly interfered’ in US election – Russian FM
Leaders and top officials from the UK, Germany, and France have “grossly interfered” in US internal affairs, “campaigned” for Hillary Clinton, and openly “demonized” Donald Trump, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.
Speaking at a press conference following a meeting with Austrian counterpart Sebastian Kurz, Lavrov said Moscow “is tired" of accusations it meddled in the US election.
In fact, Lavrov said, it is time to “acknowledge the fact” that it was the other way around.
“US allies have grossly interfered in America’s internal affairs, in the election campaign,” Lavrov said.
“We noticed that Angela Merkel, Francois Hollande, Theresa May, and other European leaders” did so. He added that official representatives of some of the European countries did not mince words, and essentially “demonized” Donald Trump during the election campaign.
In August last year, German Foreign Minister Frank Walther Steinmeier called Trump a “hate preacher.”
Reacting to Trump’s statement that parts of London are ‘no-go areas,’ UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said in December that Trump is “unfit” to be US president. Later on, however, Johnson said that Trump’s presidency might be a “moment of opportunity.”
The Russian government, on the other hand, has expressed its willingness to work with the US under Donald Trump.
“Trump says that if the promotion of US national interests would lead to a chance of working with Russia, it would be foolish not to do that,” Lavrov said.
“Our approach is the same: where our interests coincide, we should be and are ready to work together with the US as well as the EU and NATO,” the minister stressed.
Over the past year, Russia has been repeatedly accused by Washington of meddling in the US election.
In January, the US Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) issued a report allegedly proving Moscow had its fingers in the US election campaign. The public was only provided, however, with a declassified part of the paper, which contained no solid evidence.
Trump’s advisor on foreign policy during the campaign, Carter Page, told RT that the paper was “speculative” and served “certain political theories.”
The US media, citing CIA sources and unverified reports, even alleged that Moscow tried to aid Trump directly to secure his victory.
Trump rebuffed the allegations, saying it was simply another “excuse” by the Democrats to explain the defeat of Hillary Clinton.
