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Kremlin says US midterms won’t clarify trend in Moscow-Washington ties

The US midterm elections are hardly going to set things straight on bringing Russian-US relations back to normal, the Kremlin says

MOSCOW, November 6. /TASS/. The US midterm elections are hardly going to set things straight on bringing Russian-US relations back to normal, Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

"We believe there is no need to delude ourselves hoping that they (the midterm elections) will somehow clarify things (how Russian-US ties will develop)," he said. "So far, there is no definite trend towards normalizing relations," Peskov added.

When asked whether the Kremlin would keep an eye on the US election, he said that the media usually keeps track of such information. "This is why we will be looking at it one way or another," the presidential spokesman said.

At the same time, Peskov declined to comment on allegations about Russia’s interference in the US midterm elections.

"We cannot respond to allegations by some abstract cyber security experts since we don’t know who they are and whether they actually understand cyber security. I am not ready to comment on such statements," Peskov said in response to a request to comment on articles by US cyber security experts claiming that Moscow and organizations linked to Russia have continued to meddle in the US election campaign.

Earlier in the day, the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Department of Justice (DOJ), the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI), and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) issued a joint statement, saying they "have no indication of compromise of our nation’s election infrastructure that would prevent voting, change vote counts, or disrupt the ability to tally votes."

"But Americans should be aware that foreign actors - and Russia in particular - continue to try to influence public sentiment and voter perceptions through actions intended to sow discord," the statement adds.

The midterm elections in the US are taking place on November 6. All 435 seats in the House of Representatives and 35 out of the 100 seats in the Senate are up for grabs. In addition, 36 states and three territories are holding gubernatorial elections. A number of state and local officials will also be elected on the same day.