Russia To Respond To US Claim Moscow Has To Pay For Election Meddling - Lawmaker

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 17th March, 2021) Leonid Slutskiy, the head of the Russian lower chamber's international affairs committee, said on Wednesday that Moscow would provide an adequate response to Washington's threat to hold it accountable for alleged interference in the 2020 presidential vote.

US President Joe Biden said that Russian President Vladimir Putin would "pay a price" for allegedly meddling in the election.

"I am confident that we will not ignore the threats that Russia will have to pay a price. We will find a clear and adequate response to any restrictions by the US, especially those introduced under such invented pretexts," Slutskiy told reporters.

The senior lawmaker once again refuted the accusations against Russia, stressing that the country "has never meddled and has no intention to meddle in the US elections."

During his interview with ABC news, Biden was asked if he believed Putin to be a "killer," to which the US president answered affirmatively.

This prompted a response from the Russian lower house chairman, Vyacheslav Volodin, who described Biden's statements as histrionic.

"With his statements, Biden has insulted our country's citizens. This is a hysteria out of weakness. Putin is our president, and the attacks against him are attacks against our country!" Volodin wrote on Telegram.

On Tuesday, media circulated claims from a declassified US intelligence report that Russia tried to undermine Biden's election campaign by disseminating misleading allegations via people from the inner circle of former President Donald Trump. The assertion appears to mirror a similar one brought against Moscow during the 2016 US presidential election, in which Hillary Clinton's failed campaign was allegedly targeted. Neither of the accusations was supported by evidence, and Moscow has consistently denied any meddling.