US envoy vows to examine proof of Silicon Valley meddling in Russian elections — Lavrov
The foreign minister noted that American Big Tech companies and their resources should, in this case, obey Russian law, despite US statements about their independence from the government
DUSHANBE, September 15. / TASS /. US Ambassador to Moscow John Sullivan pledged to study documents that were submitted to him at the Foreign Ministry on September 10, regarding American companies’ interference in Russia’s elections, said Sergey Lavrov, the country’s top diplomat.
"Concrete evidence was passed on to the US ambassador, who considered this document as information that he promised to verify. Though, he said that there was no information that someone was violating Russian law, but the facts were sent to him and they were serious enough. We are waiting for an answer from our American colleagues on why this is happening," Lavrov said on Wednesday after a joint meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers, the Council of Defense Ministers and the Committee of Security Councils’ Secretaries of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) in Dushanbe.
The foreign minister noted that American Big Tech companies and their resources should, in this case, obey Russian law, despite US statements about their independence from the government. "We have reason to believe that the US authorities are also not completely helpless on this particular issue," Lavrov stated.
US Ambassador to Moscow John Sullivan, was summoned to Russia’s Foreign Ministry on September 10, where he met with Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov. The senior Russian diplomat presented evidence that the US tech giants violated the country’s legislation on the eve of the parliamentary elections. Ryabkov also pointed out that interference in the country’s internal affairs was inadmissible.