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Scandals related to US election reflect unhealthy atmosphere in Washington, says diplomat

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said that "we are keeping our distance, only observing this peculiar phenomenon"

MOSCOW, October 16. /TASS/. Scandals arising in relation to the US election, namely, the impeachment inquiry against US President Donald Trump, reflect an unhealthy situation in Washington, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said in an interview with the International Affairs magazine.

"In my opinion, what we witness now reflects the unhealthy atmosphere that established itself in Washington, where the Republicans and the Democrats are playing the hot potato game, throwing foreign policy issues at each other with a domestic political agenda," Ryabkov stressed. "We are keeping our distance, only observing this peculiar phenomenon. We think that the current events are a reflection of the current difficult stage of domestic policy discourse in the USA."

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More meddling charges against Russia to follow US elections — senior diplomat

"The investigation of Special Counsel [Robert] Mueller did not have the effect desired by certain circles, not only in Washington, but in other capitals as well. We always knew that it was going to happen, because it was absolutely impossible "to dig up" anything that could prove the completely insane and uninspired accusations of "colluding" with Russia and meddling in the US domestic affairs," the diplomat added. "Objectively, this simply could not have existed. Then they came up with the idea to find other "weak spots" in the position of the current administration."

The Mueller probe

In May 2017, the US Department of Justice announced that former FBI Chief Robert Mueller had been appointed as special counsel to investigate alleged Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential election. On the outcomes of the probe, Mueller failed to prove that US President Donald Trump had colluded with the Russian government to win the election.

A report by US Attorney General William Burr published on March 24 has confirmed that there was no collusion between Moscow and the Donald Trump presidential campaign. However, the document claims that Russia attempted to influence the outcome of the US 2016 presidential election through cyberattacks, as well as through the activities of Russia’s Internet Research Agency.

Trump and key members of his team have been repeatedly rejecting all the accusations concerning any collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. Moscow has also been refuting these allegations.

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