Kremlin Confirms Russia Will Not Interfere in US Presidential Election: We Are Not Dictating to Anyone

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. (Wikimedia Commons/Have you guys?

JAKARTA - The Kremlin on Wednesday said Russia would not interfere in the United States presidential election in November, rejecting findings that Moscow orchestrated a campaign to influence the 2016 and 2020 US presidential elections.

"We have never interfered in elections in the United States," said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, as reported by Reuters, March 7.

"And this time, we don't mean to interfere. We don't dictate to anyone how to live, but we also don't want other people to dictate to us," he continued.

Peskov further said that any attempts from abroad to interfere in Russia's presidential election later this month would be prevented.

Russia, he said, was unconcerned by Western criticism of a vote that incumbent Putin said was certain to win, barring unexpected developments.

It is known that Russian President Vladimir Putin has made a series of ironic statements regarding the US Election, saying he prefers Joe Biden as US President in the next Presidential Election over Donald Trump.

Separately, a 2019 report written by US Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller, found Russia had "interfered in the 2016 Presidential Election in a comprehensive and systematic manner" while US intelligence believes Russia interfered in the 2020 Election.

In 2021, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence released a report saying President Putin had authorized a series of influence operations aimed at denigrating Joe Biden's candidacy and supporting Donald Trump while undermining public trust.

The United States last year released a US intelligence assessment that found Moscow used spies, social media and Russian state media to erode public confidence in the integrity of democratic elections around the world.

The war in Ukraine has sparked the deepest crisis in Russia's relations with the West since the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. President Putin warned the West risks triggering nuclear war if it sends troops to fight in Ukraine.

Peskov, President Putin's spokesman since 2008, said relations with the US had probably never been worse. However, he said Russia did not see Uncle Sam's country as an enemy, saying the world's two largest nuclear powers had a special responsibility to ensure global strategic security.

Relations "have probably never been worse. America is 'at war' against us," Peskov said.

When asked what the future holds for Russia, Peskov said it would not be easy as geopolitical tectonic plates were shifting. But Russia, he said, would remain open to the world.