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Vladimir Putin
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Americans’ life must be so boring that they are making up stories about Russia, while rejecting allegations his country meddled in the 2016 US election.
In an interview with NBC’s Megyn Kelly broadcast on Sunday he also denied that he is holding compromising evidence against President Donald Trump. “They have been misled,” Putin said when Kelly said that American intelligence agencies had concluded that Russia interfered in the campaign with the goal of electing Trump.
“They aren’t analysing the information in its entirety. I haven’t seen, even once, any direct proof of Russian interference in the presidential election.”
When Kelly asked him about allegations of Russian involvement in the campaign, he replied with a conspiracy theory about the death of President John F Kennedy in 1963. “There’s a theory that Kennedy’s assassination was arranged by the United States intelligence services. So, if this theory is correct — and that can’t be ruled out — ” then the same agencies could fabricate evidence of Russian hacking, Putin said.
“Then what could be easier in this day and age than using all the intelligence means at the disposal of the intelligence services and using these means to organise some attacks and then pointing the finger at Russia.”
On the idea that Russia disrupted US elections, he said: “US should be the last country to accuse Russia of meddling.”
“I will tell you something you already know. I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings, but the US actively interferes in the electoral campaigns of other countries.
“Put your finger anywhere in the map of the world, there will be campaigns that American officials are interfering in the internal electoral processes.”
The interview with Putin was conducted last week during an economic forum in St Petersburg and was the opening segment in the debut episode of “Sunday Night With Megyn Kelly.”
During the interview, Putin calling Kelly’s questions a “load of nonsense” and Kelly could hardly get anything new out of the former KGB intelligence officer, who is not given to unguarded moments or admissions of guilt.
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