Russia rejects allegations of Putin-directed meddling in 2020 US election
Russia has rejected allegations of interference in the United States’ 2020 presidential election, saying Washington is seeking to besmirch Moscow’s image and blame others for its own problems.
The US Office of the Director of National Intelligence released a 15-page declassified report on Tuesday accusing Russian President Vladimir Putin of having likely directed efforts to try to manipulate the 2020 presidential election to benefit the then-incumbent president and Republican candidate Donald Trump.
The Russian Embassy in the United States said in a statement on Wednesday that the report “is another set of baseless accusations against our country for interfering in American domestic political processes.”
“The conclusions of the report on Russia conducting influence operations in America are confirmed solely by the confidence of the intelligence services of their self-righteousness. No facts or specific evidence of such claims were provided,” the embassy said.
The declassified report claimed that President Putin authorized “influence operations aimed at denigrating President Biden’s candidacy and the Democratic Party, supporting former president Trump, undermining public confidence in the electoral process and exacerbating sociopolitical divisions in the US.”
The Russian Embassy said that Washington “continues to practice ‘megaphone diplomacy,’ with the main goal to maintain a negative image of Russia. To blame external players for destabilizing the situation inside the country.”
It said, “Washington’s actions do not lead to the normalization of bilateral relations.”
The Biden administration is expected to impose sanctions on Moscow over the allegations as soon as next week, two sources told Reuters on the condition of anonymity.
A unnamed official said the president had “been clear” that Washington would respond to “destabilizing Russian actions.”
Back in 2016, there were also allegations that Trump colluded with the Kremlin to gain favor against political rival Hillary Clinton. Russia rejected those claims, too.
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