Putin jokes that Moscow plans to meddle in the 2020 election
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday appeared to revel in the ongoing political maelstrom in the U.S., jokingly admitting to plans for future election meddling.
When asked whether Russia would interfere in the 2020 election cycle, Putin leaned into the microphone onstage and mimicked a whisper: “I’m going to tell you a secret. Yes, sure. We’re going to do that. Don’t tell anybody.”
The quip at the Russian Energy Week panel elicited laughter and applause as Putin discussed why he believes the allegations made by former special counsel Robert Mueller, who concluded that Moscow mounted an aggressive effort to disrupt the 2016 presidential election, were untrue.
“The fact that myself and Mr. Trump have a close relationship doesn’t mean that it’s in any way affecting the current political environment within the U.S.,” he said. “We see that (the United States) is trying to use any pretext to attack Mr. Trump, and now they’re even trying to use Ukraine.”
He maintained that while he has a good relationship with Trump “built on trust,” Russia did not interfere in the 2016 presidential election, citing focus on issues within his own country.
“We have our own problems,” he said. “We invest immense resources into implementing our own goals in our own country. Why would we interfere anywhere?”
