US President Donald Trump said he is getting along with President Vladimir Putin amid claims that Russian leader is meddling in the upcoming American elections and is accused of using a nerve agent to poison one of his main political opponents.
“I don’t know exactly what happened. I think it’s tragic. It’s terrible; it shouldn’t happen. We haven’t had any proof yet, but I will take a look,” Trump said on Friday in a news conference at the White House.
In response to further questions, he dismissed the matter, claiming that what China is doing is “far worse.” And as he had done the night before at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania, he stressed, “I do get along with President Putin.”
Prior to this, an intelligence bulletin issued by the US Department of Homeland Security warned that Moscow is attempting to sow doubt about the integrity of the 2020 elections by amplifying false claims that mail-in voting resulting in widespread fraud.
The initial US response came in a series of tweets from National Security Council spokesperson John Ullyot.
“The United States is deeply troubled by the results released today. Alexei Navalny’s poisoning is completely reprehensible. Russia has used the chemical nerve agent Novichok in the past,” Ullyot said. “We will work with allies and the international community to hold those in Russia accountable, wherever the evidence leads, and restrict funds for their malign activities.”
Since then the US ambassadors to Moscow, NATO and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe have weighed in and Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun met with the Russian ambassador to the US on Friday, where he expressed “grave concern” over the poisoning, according to a State Department readout.
