Claims of Moscow's Alleged Meddling in 'Yellow Vests' Rallies Slander - Kremlin

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russia considers protests in France to be an internal affair of that country, has not interfered in other states' affairs, claims of Russia's involvement in French protests are slander, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday.

"I would like to say that Russia considers everything that happens purely an internal affair of France. We have not interfered and are not going to interfere in the internal affairs of any countries, including France," Peskov told reporters.

He said Moscow attached great importance to developing relations with Paris, and respected France's sovereignty.

On Sunday, Jean-Yves Le Drian, the country's foreign minister, said that the French Secretariat-General for National Defence and Security (SGDSN) was investigating reports of Russia's alleged meddling in the so-called yellow vest rallies that have been raging in France. This came on the heels of a Times' report that hundreds of allegedly Russia-linked Twitter accounts were found to be fuelling the yellow vest rallies by posting pictures of injured protesters and retweeting posts connected to the unrest.

READ MORE: Yellow Vests Protests 'Catastrophe' for French Economy – Finance Minister

France has been facing a wave of mass protests since mid-November, when the so-called yellow vest protesters — named after the obligatory attribute of French drivers — took to the streets to rally against rising fuel prices and a planned hike in tax on diesel and carbon fuels.

The rallies intensified earlier this week, with over 1,700 detained on Saturday alone.

Russia has repeatedly denied interference in domestic affairs of other states.