WASHINGTON, November 7. /TASS/. The US administration is seeking to avoid further escalation of tension caused by the invasion of US political organizations’ computer systems and Washington’s attempts to lay the blame for this on Russia, David Ignatius, a columnist for the Washington Post, said on Sunday without disclosing his sources of information.
"I’m told finally that although Vice President (Joseph) Biden warned of US reprisals, none have been taken so far against Russia. And the reason is there’s a desire to avoid any kind of cycle of escalation in this very difficult period before the election," said Ignatius, who writes a foreign affairs column twice a week.
He also noted that the signal on the inadmissibility of continuing cyberattacks on US political organizations Washington blames Russia for had been sent to Russian President Vladimir Putin by his US counterpart, Barack Obama.
"I’m told that since then there was a private warning, I believe by President Obama himself, to Vladimir Putin," Ignatius told CBS TV network. According to Ignatius, the US leader allegedly informed the head of the Russian state that "any further Russian attempts to interfere in the US elections would have the most serious consequences." He did not specify how and when Washington’s alleged message was handed over to Moscow.
The Washington Post columnist admitted that no cyberattacks from Russian hackers had been recorded by the US authorities recently. Nevertheless, he emphasized that the US administration is closely following the developments in the US cyberspace. According to Ignatius, "there’s a cyber war room set up for Tuesday (the election day in the US - TASS) to monitor any attempt to intrude.".