Putin ignores accusations of Russian interference in US election
President Putin "doesn't care" if Russian citizens tried to interfere in the 2016 US election, insisting the Kremlin had nothing to do with them.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin. Photo:AFP. |
"Why do you think that the Russian authorities, including me, allowed someone to do this?" Russian President Vladimir Putin asked in an interview with the TV channel.NBCaired on March 9, mentioning the accusations of Russia interfering in the 2016 US presidential election.
US Special Counsel Robert Mueller is leading an investigation into whether President Donald Trump’s campaign colluded with Russia to help him win the election. In February, Mueller indicted 13 Russians and three Russian companies for allegedly aiding Trump’s campaign, smearing his rival Hillary Clinton and interfering in other elections.
"So what if they are Russians?" Putin said. "There are 146 million Russians. So what? ... I don't care. They don't represent the interests of Russia." Mueller issued a 37-page indictment against the Russians involved, but Putin stressed that he had not seen any concrete evidence.
"Do we impose sanctions on the United States? The United States imposes sanctions on us," he said. "In Russia, we cannot prosecute a person if he has not violated Russian law... At least send us documents, an official request. We will consider it."
The US intelligence community concluded in 2017 that Mr Putin had directed a series of efforts to influence the US election, weaken Clinton, and increase Trump's chances of winning. Mr Trump has repeatedly denied this information. US intelligence officials said in February that Russia's efforts were continuing and posed a threat to the US congressional elections in November.
"Who would believe that Russia, thousands of kilometers away from the United States... could influence the election results? Don't you find that ridiculous?" Putin asked. "Interference is not our goal. We don't see any results from it."
