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Kremlin calls idea that Trump worked for Moscow 'absurd'

Top Russian officials ridiculed the idea that US President Donald Trump could have worked for Russia's interests, dismissing them Wednesday as "absurd" and "stupid."

 

Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said during a news conference that US newspaper reports about Trump withholding details of his meetings with Russia's president and an FBI investigation of whether he was working on Moscow's behalf reflected a plunge in journalism standards.

 

Trump said this week that he never worked for Russia and repeated his claim that an ongoing investigation of his ties to Russia was a hoax.

 

Asked if Russia would consider releasing minutes from President Vladimir Putin's one-on-one talks with Trump, Lavrov said doing so would defy the basic culture of diplomacy and dismissed the possibility.

 

Calls for Moscow to provide the minutes are illegitimate meddling in the US president's constitutional right to conduct foreign policy, he said.

 

Putin's foreign affairs adviser, Yuri Ushakov, similarly derided media reports of Trump's possible promotion of Russian interests.

 

"What kind of nonsense are you asking about?" Ushakov snapped when asked if Trump was a Russian agent. "How can one comment on such a stupid thing? It has reached such a scale that it's awkward to even talk about it."

 

"How can a president of the United States be an agent of another country, just think yourself," Ushakov said at a briefing.

 

The Kremlin's hopes for better relations with the US under Trump have been shattered by ongoing investigations into the allegations of collusion between Trump's campaign and Russia.

 


פרסום ראשון: 01.16.19, 20:55