WASHINGTON, March 18. /TASS/. Washington will soon intensify its smear campaign against Russia and undermine the legitimacy of Vladimir Putin’s presidency, Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov said.
"I doubt that America will pay any heed," the Russian diplomat said, commenting on the record voter turnout in the Russian presidential election and the victory of Vladimir Putin. According to Antonov, who talked to the press after the polling station at the embassy closed on Sunday, the United States of "America will not recognize this election." "Perhaps, not only because we held it in the new regions," he added. "Some politicians in the West, in Western Europe, have already stated that. And it would perhaps be naive to expect the Americans to recognize the results of the election," the Russian diplomat added.
Nor will the United States abandon its anti-Russia campaign, Antonov said. "I think they will soon intensify their anti-Russian rampage in hopes of undermining the legitimacy of the Russian leader and showing that the Americans’ central goal is to inflict a strategic defeat on us, 'on the battlefield,' as they put it, when in actuality they want to weaken our country to the point of exhaustion and prevent us from implementing all socio-economic tasks set by the president in his address to the Federal Assembly," the ambassador underscored.
"As regards [voting at polling stations] abroad, it was very important, and I believe that the fact that a large number of Russian nationals came here (to vote on March 17 - TASS) shows that the US’ Russophobic `anti-Russia’ policy course has failed," he said with confidence. "No matter how much they are currently investing in this `anti-Russia’ campaign, people pay no heed to what is going on at think tanks or even in mass media," the ambassador concluded.