MOSCOW, March 18. /TASS/. Moscow considers Washington’s accusations of Russia meddling in the 2020 US presidential election as another example of fake news, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said during Thursday’s briefing.
"The current US administration does not cease to astonish us with the absurdity of their public statements. It’s not just about blatantly out-of-line attacks against the Russian leadership, it’s also about the absurd accusations of meddling in last year’s presidential election that [candidate from the Democratic party Joe] Biden won," Zakharova said. "We consider this another piece of fake news, built entirely on the unfounded conclusion that materials critical of the candidate were allegedly circulating on the Internet, reportedly spread by some Russian agents of influence."
Zakharova stated that according to the US political elites, all supporters of former US President Donald Trump and the entire opposition are considered "agents of influence." "This seems weird, namely based on US approaches to interpreting democracy," the diplomat said. "Meanwhile, if someone tried to affect the expression of the citizens’ will, it must have been the Internet giants that support the Democratic Party that blocked the accounts of the incumbent president and thousands of his supporters on social networks."
"We are forced to remind you of an obvious fact: there is no evidence of Russian government bodies interfering in US affairs. The same cannot be said about endless attempts of US officials to manage political processes in other countries, including Russia, to directly lead the marginal opposition groups with the aim to bring instability and to sow dissent and discord," the spokeswoman stressed.
Washington’s reaction to unsanctioned protest rallies in Russia in January is an example of that, Zakharova said. She reminded that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was quick to come up with critical remarks against the Russian law enforcement. "Essentially, not only did the head of the US State Department allow himself to infringe upon the competence of our judicial and executive powers, he also doubted the legitimacy of epidemiological restrictions when holding mass events," the diplomat added.
"Unfortunately, the US side is still trapped in an illusion, trying to roll out a meaningless campaign of Russophobic attacks. This only leads to further degradation of bilateral relations, which contradicts the core interests of the Russian and US nations. It seems that Washington is not ready to realize the corresponding risks to peace and security," Zakharova concluded.
On Tuesday, a report released by the Office of the US Director of National Intelligence was published claiming that the Russian government allegedly tried to discredit the US President Joe Biden and the Democratic Party in the run-up to the 2020 presidential election.