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ORPresident Joe Biden has threatened the head of the Kremlin, Vladimir Putin, with consequences for alleged Russian interference in the US elections last November. “You are going to pay a price,” Biden said in an interview broadcast Wednesday by US broadcaster ABC. In a telephone conversation at the end of January, he told Putin, in view of possible interference from Moscow: “I know you and you know me. When I find out this has happened, be prepared. ” When asked by ABC host George Stephanopoulos if he thought Putin was a “murderer,” Biden replied, “Yes, I do.
According to US intelligence services, Russia defended then-US President Donald Trump in the November elections and tried to harm Biden. Moscow wanted to influence the election outcome and sow conflict in the country, according to a report released Tuesday by the office of US intelligence coordinator Avril Haines. Putin and his government “approved and implemented” the measures. Russia focused on disinformation but, unlike the 2016 elections, it did not seek to directly undermine the electoral infrastructure in the United States.
“Wrong, absolutely unfounded and unfounded”
The Kremlin rejected the US intelligence report. The report was “incorrect, absolutely baseless and unfounded,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov said, according to Interfax news agency in Moscow on Wednesday. Russia did not interfere in either the 2020 US elections or the previous ones. Such an assertion by the United States only hurts “the already tarnished Russian-American relations.”
Many other comments from the country are also clearly described: “Putin is our president and an attack on him is an attack on our country,” wrote the Speaker of the Russian House of Commons, Vyacheslav Volodin, on the Telegram online service. Putin’s influential confidant added, referring to Biden’s remarks: “This is hysteria due to impotence.”
The president of the United States did not provide any information about the consequences of intelligence intelligence for Putin. At the same time, Biden made it clear that cooperation between Washington and Moscow is still possible if they have common interests. Critics had accused Trump of adopting an overly Putin-friendly policy. Biden had already announced a tougher approach to Moscow during the election campaign.
Biden’s remarks in the Putin interview drew criticism in Russia. “Biden has insulted the citizens of our country with his statements,” wrote parliamentary leader Vyacheslav Volodin on the Telegram news channel. He spoke of “hysteria” and “impotence”. “Putin is our president, the attacks against him are attacks against our country,” he said. Regarding possible new US sanctions, the chairman of the State Duma Foreign Affairs Committee, Leonid Sluzki, said, according to the Interfax agency: “We will find a clear and adequate response to all restrictive measures by the United States, especially due to such artificial occasions. “
The report did not specifically mention the goals of Russian influence in the United States.
The US report said Russia relied on its intelligence, state media, internet trolls and allies in Ukraine in its campaign. One of Moscow’s most important strategies was to accuse Biden and his family of corruption in relation to Ukraine. Russian agents had also targeted Americans with ties to the Trump administration to demand the launch of investigations against Biden. There have also been efforts to manipulate Trump administration officials and certain outlets into doing so.
The report did not specifically mention the goals of Russian influence in the United States. The theories spread by Moscow about Biden’s alleged corruption were represented by Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, among others. Conservative media like Fox News picked them up over and over again. Republican Trump also repeatedly accused Democrat Biden and his son Hunter of having gotten rich from corrupt businesses.
Hunter Biden held a lucrative position on the supervisory board of the Ukrainian gas company Burisma from 2014 to 2019. As vice president, his father was in charge of US policy toward Ukraine until the end of 2016. Trump, in turn, is accused. of pressuring Ukraine in 2019 to initiate corruption investigations against Biden. Trump wanted to hurt his political rival, hence the critics.
Influence during the US elections
Trump’s actions against Ukraine led to the first impeachment proceedings against Trump for abuse of power. The Democrat-controlled House of Representatives indicted him, but the Senate acquitted him with a Republican majority.
The new secret services report on the 2020 elections said that Moscow wanted to “influence the public perception of the candidates in the United States.” The long-term goal is to “undermine confidence in the American electoral system and increase the social division of the people in America.” Russia viewed Biden’s electoral victory as “detrimental to Russian interests.” China, on the other hand, did not try to influence the elections. Iran, in turn, tried to influence the election campaign to reduce Trump’s chances of reelection and increase the division in American society, he said.
In the 2016 elections, US security authorities were convinced that Russia intervened on behalf of candidate Trump to stop Democrat Hillary Clinton. Subsequently, a special investigator investigated a possible illegal collusion between Russia and Trump’s team. There was insufficient evidence for this, but investigator Robert Mueller did not rule out that Trump could obstruct investigations by the judiciary. Trump always condemned the Russia investigation as a “witch hunt.”
Biden did not provide any information on the consequences these findings could have for Putin. At the same time, the US president made it clear that cooperation between Washington and Moscow is still possible if they have common interests.
