MOSCOW, August 23. /TASS/. Moscow has no doubts the United States will be trying to meddle in Russia’s forthcoming presidential election, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told Chinese and Japanese media in an interview.
"We’ve got used to US meddling. We’ve learned to live with it. The same applies to the tapping of telephones by US secret services," Ryabkov said. "The one who is unaware of this is an absolutely naive person who lives on a different planet and does not understand what’s what."
"There can be no doubts it will happen," Ryabkov said, when asked if Russia should brace for US meddling in the forthcoming presidential election.
As he dwelt on the allegations Russia had intervened in the 2016 presidential election in the United States Ryabkov recalled that Moscow has not yet seen a single piece of evidence to confirm the charges blamed "some phantom hackers from Russia."
"We have not heard just one comprehensible explanation of what this is all about. All along we hear accusations certain people had some Russian contacts, though some of these people have never participated in the election campaigns of either Democratic or Republican parties and others are no longer functionaries of the current administration," Ryabkov said. "If contacts with any holders of Russian passports are so ‘toxic’ and impermissible, then it should be stated outright."
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"Apparently a manifestation of the same approach is seen in the decision by the US embassy and the Department of State to restrict the opportunities for holders of Russian passports to obtain US visas," Ryabkov said. "It is hard for me to judge. We never get any sensible explanations regarding any actions by special investigators or somebody else, involved in this utterly unexplainable extravaganza that has continued for many months."
Ryabkov speculated that this situation might last for some time.
"We will keep an eye on this. It is a quite remarkable social and political phenomenon called collective madness," he said.