NEW YORK, June 30. /TASS/. US media claims that Russia offered bounties to members of the Taliban movement (outlawed in Russia) for killing US soldiers are ‘ridiculous,’ Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in an interview with NBC.
"This is really ridiculous to spread this kind of information," the spokesman said in an English-language interview.
When asked whether Russia considers such behavior as an "act of aggression," Peskov replied: "I don't think that this situation is possible ever."
Responding to a question about whether Russian and US officials had touched upon the subject, Peskov replied "As far as I'm concerned none of the American representatives have ever raised this question," adding that he was not aware of any consultations on the issue through government or diplomatic channels.
He also said he had no information about consultations between the military officials of Russia and the United States. "They have their own dialogue system" that contains "restricted information," Peskov said.
On June 26, British media outlets cited The New York Times to claim that an unidentified unit of the Russian military intelligence encouraged Taliban militants to attack military personnel of the international coalition in Afghanistan. The newspaper alleged that these conclusions of American intelligence services were presented for Trump’s judgment a few months ago, while the White House National Security Council discussed the topic in late March. In turn, Trump revealed that he had not been briefed about any such attacks in Afghanistan. On Sunday, he took to Twitter to announce that the US intelligence did not find this information credible, slamming The New York Times report as "possibly another fabricated Russia Hoax, maybe by the Fake News" meant to tarnish the Republicans’ reputation.
On Monday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov blasted reports that Russia allegedly offered Afghan militants bounties for killing US military personnel as lies and an elaborate hoax. "These claims are nothing but lies," the Kremlin spokesman said, commenting on the publication of The New York Times. "Once again, we can only express regret that once largest, reputable and high-quality world media outlets have been increasingly more often publishing elaborate hoaxes in the last few years, which definitely does not bode well with keeping up with their reputation and prestige," Peskov stressed. "If intelligence services continue to be accountable before the president in the US, then I suggest you focus on the relevant statement of President Trump who already evaluated these publications," he added.