LONDON, July 16./TASS/. The UK maintains that Russia made attempts to interfere in the 2019 general election.
"It is almost certain that Russian actors sought to interfere in the 2019 General Election through the online amplification of illicitly acquired and leaked Government documents," Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said on Thursday.
"Sensitive government documents relating to the UK-US Free Trade Agreement were illicitly acquired before the 2019 General Election and disseminated online via the social media platform Reddit," he added. Dominic Raab said, however, that these attempts were not part of ‘a broad spectrum’ Russian campaign against the election.
"Whilst there is no evidence of a broad spectrum Russian campaign against the General Election, any attempt to interfere in our democratic processes is completely unacceptable. It is, and will always be, an absolute priority to protect our democracy and elections," Raab went on to say.
He said a criminal investigation was launched. "There is an ongoing criminal investigation and it would be inappropriate for us to say anything further at this point," Raab said. "The Government reserves the right to respond with appropriate measures in the future," the foreign secretary emphasized.
The statement was made ahead of the release of a report on Russia’s alleged meddling in British democratic processes earlier.
Meanwhile, Moscow reiterates that it makes no attempts to meddle in political processes in other countries.
Last December, Russian Ambassador to the UK Andrei Kelin rejected some British politicians’ accusations that Moscow tried to meddle in the democratic processes in Britain.
"We closely follow the speeches during party conventions and the programs, which are approved, since the sentiment, which prevail in the leading parties today, is important for us," the ambassador said, commenting on the election campaign ahead of the 2019 parliamentary elections.
"However, we do not interfere in this process in any way. Whoever comes to power, we will seek common ground, based on which we will be able to work to improve relations," the diplomat said. "It is very important to ensure that the ‘Russian issue’ does not become a question of a political campaign in Britain, the way it was in the United States. It has nothing to do with economic or political life in the country, that’s a completely different story. In this case, there is just one thing I can say - there are people who dishonestly make the most of the Russian issue trying to score political points," Kelin said.