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Kremlin derides US media buzz of ‘Russian meddling’ as bordering on TV soap opera

Peskov reiterated that the Kremlin "has absolutely nothing to do with this story"

Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov Mikhail Metzel/TASS

Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov

© Mikhail Metzel/TASS

MOSCOW, July 12. /TASS/. The Kremlin has nothing to do with the correspondence of the US president’s son, Donald Trump Jr., his alleged meeting with Russian attorney Natalya Veselnitskaya and believes that this story is another spin in the ongoing soap opera, Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday.

"This story has nothing much to feed off of," Peskov said after being asked whether this story could stoke US suspicions regarding Russia’s alleged interference in the most recent US presidential election.

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"This is just another spin to the plot and it appeared immediately after the bilateral meeting [between the Russian and US presidents]," he said. "On the whole, it definitely looks like a long-running soap opera, which can compete with the most successful TV-series currently aired in the United States, however, there is no sense drawing us into such soap operas as we are not taking part or playing any roles in it."

The New York Times daily published a story last week claiming that in June 2016, then presidential candidate Donald Trump’s eldest son Donald Trump Jr., son-in-law Jared Kushner and campaign chairman Paul Manafort held a meeting with a Russian lawyer, who allegedly had connections to Russian authorities. According to the New York Times, some people linked to Russian ruling circles, as well as to a number of state companies, were among Natalya Veselnitskaya’s clients.

Peskov reiterated that the Kremlin "has absolutely nothing to do with this story, has never been in contact with this lawyer (Veselnitskaya) and, therefore, has nothing to say about it."

Read also

US expert comments on meeting between Putin and Trump

The presidential spokesman dismissed as absurd allegations that Veselnitskaya reportedly acted on behalf of the Russian government during the meeting with Trump Jr.
"How could a lawyer be possibly representing the Russian government at the official level?" Peskov said adding that an only exception is when a lawyer acts on behalf of the government in a court trial.

"But it was not about it [a court trial] in this given case, therefore such a statement on the issue is improper and absurd," he said.

US President Trump and his administration repeatedly denied allegations that Russian authorities meddled in last year’s US presidential election helping him to win the race. Moscow has also rebuffed such allegations on numerous occasions.

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