Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday assured, not without sarcasm, that he “supports” Democratic candidate Kamala Harris for the American presidential election in November, the day after accusations of electoral interference made by Washington and rejected by Moscow.
The White House responded by urging Vladimir Putin to “stop interfering” in the presidential election, while Moscow has already been accused of interference in previous elections in the United States and Europe.
U.S. authorities on Wednesday took action, including criminal prosecutions and sanctions, over attempts to “influence” the outcome of the Nov. 5 presidential election between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump.
US intelligence had already concluded that there was Russian interference in the presidential elections in 2016 and 2020 to favour Republican candidate Donald Trump, something that the person concerned categorically denies and that Russian diplomacy has denied.
Without responding directly to these accusations, Vladimir Putin said Thursday that US President Joe Biden had “recommended his voters to support Mr.me Harris, so we will support her too,” at an economic forum in Vladivostok.
“Secondly, she has such an expressive and infectious laugh that it shows that she is doing well,” he added with a smile. Kamala Harris’ laugh is very often ridiculed by American conservatives, Donald Trump in particular.
The Russian president said that Republican candidate Donald Trump, who held the White House from 2017 to 2021, had imposed “more sanctions on Russia than any president” before him, and that Kamala Harris “should refrain from doing so”. [ait] maybe to do this kind of thing.”
“But ultimately the choice is up to the American people,” Putin added.
“Predictable”
“The only people who should determine who the next president of the United States is are the American people, and we would greatly appreciate it if Mr. Putin, first, would stop talking about our election and, second, would stop meddling in it,” White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters.
The Russian leader regularly comments, and in a willingly mocking tone, on American politics and society.
In February, he judged that Joe Biden, then expected to become the Democratic candidate but who has since withdrawn from the race, was more “predictable” and “experienced” than Donald Trump.
Again, these statements had raised some skepticism, as the American businessman was more likely to cut aid to Ukraine than Joe Biden.
Mr Putin is in fact suspected of wanting to confuse Russia’s real intentions by feigning support for the Democrats.
Donald Trump has in the past expressed admiration for the Russian president and has repeatedly claimed that he would resolve the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, which began in February 2022, “in 24 hours.”
In recent months, he has been highly critical of the billions of dollars spent by the United States to support kyiv in the face of Moscow’s offensive.
Kamala Harris, on the other hand, promised in late August that she would stand “firmly with Ukraine.”
RT channel targeted
On Wednesday, US authorities took a series of measures, including against executives of the Russian media outlet RT, in response to what they say are attempts by Moscow to interfere in the November elections.
Vladimir Putin was “aware” of these electoral interference operations, the White House claimed.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Thursday that the measures taken against RT officials were part of an “information campaign” […] prepared for a long time”.
She assured that Moscow was preparing a response to these new sanctions that would “make everyone shudder,” in an interview with the state news agency Ria Novosti.
The American authorities have not clearly indicated which camp, Democrat or Republican, would have benefited from this supposed interference in the 2024 campaign.
Frosty relations
The announcements come at a time when relations between Russia and the United States are frosty, and have only worsened since Russia’s offensive in Ukraine in February 2022.
RT, which launched in 2005, has been widely restricted or banned by Western countries, which accuse it of trying to destabilize their democracies by spreading false information.
RT has derided the latest US accusations, calling them “a return to the hackneyed clichés of 2016”.
Relations with Russia have become a point of partisan division in the United States, a development unthinkable decades ago when the Soviet Union was seen as the main threat by most Americans.