Kremlin denies US claims of ‘election interference’
Russia does not interfere in foreign elections, including in America, contrary to what officials in the US claim, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday.
US intelligence agencies have repeatedly accused Russia and other nations of trying to influence the outcome of the 2024 election with AI-generated content, social media manipulation, and other techniques.
On Election Day, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger claimed that Russia was behind multiple false bomb threats in Atlanta. The FBI said similar incidents took place in other states, with messages coming “from Russian email domains.”
“We have not interfered, are not interfering and have no intention to interfere in anyone’s domestic affairs,” Peskov told journalists during a briefing. He added that Russia is “determined to defend our own interests in terms of non-interference in our domestic affairs.”
Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign blamed Russia for her loss to Donald Trump, triggering years of speculation about ‘collusion’ between the Republican candidate and the Kremlin. Special counsel Robert Mueller was appointed to oversee an investigation into claims of ‘Russian meddling’, but did not end up recommending any indictments related to the allegations. This year, the campaign of US Vice President Kamala Harris attempted to portray Trump as the candidate favored by the Russian government.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said earlier this year that he preferred “predictable” President Joe Biden to win the election – before the incumbent was forced by his own party to drop out of the race in July. Putin said he trusted the Democratic Party’s choice of Harris for president after she replaced Biden as the presidential candidate.
Peskov said he is not sure if Putin will congratulate Trump on his election victory, considering that the US is “a deeply unfriendly nation that is directly and indirectly involved in a war against our state.”
