MOSCOW, March 17 (Xinhua) -- The Kremlin said Wednesday that claims of Russia's alleged meddling in the 2020 U.S. elections are baseless and regretful, calling them just another pretext for additional sanctions.
"We consider this report to be wrong ... it is absolutely baseless and unsubstantiated," the TASS news agency reported, quoting Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
"Russia had nothing to do with any sort of campaigns against any of the candidates," the spokesman added.
In an interview with RIA Novosti on Wednesday, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said such U.S. behavior "has become the norm," adding that this proves the country's "manic" commitment to its sanctions policy.
The United States released an intelligence report on Tuesday that revealed Russia had allegedly "denigrated" President Joe Biden's candidacy at the 2020 U.S. elections to increase support for former President Donald Trump, "undermine" public confidence in the electoral process, and increase polarization within the country. Enditem