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Medvedev says Clinton, Trump should focus on US problems, not on external ‘bugaboos’

"They should actually speak about their internal problems, rather than about any bugaboos", Russian Prime Minister said

MOSCOW, November 4. /TASS/. US presidential candidates should better focus on the country’s domestic issues in their election race that frighten the voters with external threats, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said in an interview, aired by China’s Central Television (CCTV) on Saturday.

Shui Junyi, host of the Global Watch program on CCTV asked Medvedev why Russia and China were so frequently mentioned in the US presidential campaign. The Russian head of government refrained from a detailed answer, noting that the issue was exclusively related to the United States.

"That is their domestic election and these are not the elections in either China or Russia," he said. "They should actually speak about their internal problems, rather than about any bugaboos."

The United States will elect a new president on November 8. Both candidates - Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump - regularly refer to the Russian issue in their electoral rhetoric. Nonetheless, the Republicans have been moderate in depicting the future relations with Russia, while the Democratic party openly dubbed Moscow as a threat to the US interests, speaking about Russia’s alleged interference in the election campaign and calling to contain Russia, in particular with extension of sanctions.

Russian officials, including President Vladimir Putin, have been repeatedly rejecting such allegations calling them unsubstantiated and have been expressing regret that the relations of Russia and the United States were being sacrificed to the presidential race.