Russia on Sunday condemned the attack on Donald Trump, while saying it was not surprised, given the political tensions ahead of the US presidential election.
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The Kremlin “strongly condemns any manifestation of violence in the context of the political joust,” its spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Sunday during a telephone press briefing. He offered Russia’s “condolences” to “the family of the victim killed in this attack” and wished a speedy “recovery to all victims.”
But the Kremlin spokesman, like the Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, also considered that such an event was predictable, given the pre-election climate in the United States, and took the opportunity to criticize American support for Ukraine.
“After numerous attempts to remove candidate Trump from the political arena using first legal tools […]courts, prosecutors, attempts at political discrediting, it was obvious to all outside observers that his life was in danger,” Peskov said. However, he added that he “does not believe at all that the attempt [d’assassinat] was organized by the current power.”
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova used the attack to criticize US support for Kyiv, as relations have deteriorated significantly between Moscow and the United States led by Democratic President Joe Biden, who is set to face Donald Trump in the November presidential election.
Addressing “those who vote in the United States for the supply of weapons to [Volodymyr] Zelensky,” she recommended that Washington take “inventory” of its “policies of incitement to hatred against political opponents, countries and peoples.” Policies that, according to her, include American support for Ukraine, which she accuses of fomenting “attacks against the Russian president.”
“Maybe this money would be better spent on funding the US police and other agencies that are supposed to maintain law and order in the US?” she wrote in Telegram.
A possible victory for Donald Trump in the November elections raises major uncertainties over the sustainability of crucial American support for Ukraine in the face of the Russian offensive launched in 2022.
The Republican candidate has suggested that he would end the conflict very quickly if he returned to the White House, raising the risk that Kyiv could find itself forced to negotiate with Moscow from a disadvantageous position.
Vladimir Putin said he takes “very seriously” Donald Trump’s “desire” to “stop the war in Ukraine”, while the Democratic camp regularly attacks Donald Trump on his positions towards Russia.
Joe Biden’s campaign team, for example, released a video this week calling Donald Trump a “poodle” of Russian President Vladimir Putin.