Putin on threat of US cyberattacks: First time Washington has admitted involvement in such actions

RT
Sun, 16 Oct 2016 12:13 UTC

© Ruptly

Commenting on US Vice President Joe Biden's statement on the possibility of cyberattacks against Russia, Vladimir Putin said it's the first time that Washington has admitted involvement in such actions.

"One can expect just about anything from our American friends. After all, what did he (Biden) say that we didn't already know? Didn't we know that US authorities are spying and eavesdropping on everyone?"

These activities are "well known to everyone, it's no secret," Putin added.

Washington attempts to distract attention from domestic problems by portraying Russia as an enemy, Putin said, adding that during the US election campaign, Russian-American relations are sacrificed.

Russia does not want confrontation with the US, but it is up to our partners to decide, he said. "We do not know what will happen after the US elections, but welcome everyone who wants to work with us," he said.

Russia is not going to influence the election campaign in the United States, because it does not know what will happen after the elections. "I hope that after the election period in the US, there will be a chance to restore relations between Moscow and Washington," Putin said.

Comment: Putin's full remarks:

Everyone knows this all too well, there has long been no secret about it and there is sufficient evidence to support this. Billions of dollars are channelled into this activity, with the NSA and the CIA working on it alongside other government bodies. There are both witness accounts and full-fledged confessions.

In fact, they are spying not only on their real or potential enemies, but also on their allies, including the closest ones. We know about so many wiretapping scandals involving top government officials from countries that are allies of the United States, so there is absolutely nothing new here.

The only new thing is that for the first time the US has acknowledged at such a high level, first, that they actually do this, and second that they are making some kind of a threat, which of course is inconsistent with the norms of international dialogue. This is obvious.

Apparently, they are a little bit nervous. The question is why. I think there is a reason. You know, in an election campaign, the current government carefully crafts a pre-election strategy, and any government, especially when seeking re-election, always has unresolved issues. They need to show, to explain to the voters why they remained unresolved.

In the US, there are many such problems, they certainly have enough of them ... I'm just saying that there are many problems, and in these conditions, many choose to resort to the usual tactics of distracting voters from their problems.

In my view, this is exactly what we are witnessing. How do you do it? Try to create an enemy and rally the nation against that enemy. Iran and the Iranian nuclear threat did not work well for that. Russia is a more interesting story. In my opinion, this card is being played now.

As Putin was answering, the room experienced a brief power outage, with the President's microphone switching off. "I said something wrong apparently," Putin joked, with the journalists present bursting into laughter. Curiously, Putin noted that he "is not aware" of whether Temer was recruited by US intelligence services and that "he is not interested" in the issue.