'White House Has Clearly Staked on Russophobia' - Deputy Foreign Minister

Allegations of "Moscow's meddling" in the US election are "entirely fake", Russia's deputy foreign minister said.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – It is regrettable that Washington has not provided any evidence of Russia’s alleged interference in the 2016 US presidential elections, regardless of Moscow’s calls, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said Wednesday.

"The White House has clearly staked on Russophobia… From the very beginning we have urged Washington to provide any proof, we have warned that it will ruin the base of the bilateral relations, regrettably, the arguments and calls have been ignored. Certainly, there is no real proof, the US citizens and the global community together with us have not seen it. It does not exist and cannot exist as the stories about the Russian involvement are entirely fake," Ryabkov said.

In late 2016, reports emerged suggesting that US intelligence discovered an alleged Russian hack of Republican National Committee (RNC) computers during the election campaign, but no leaks followed. The Democratic National Committee's (DNC) computers were also hacked in summer 2016, resulting in a number of compromising leaks.

The CIA claimed Russia deliberately targeted the presidential campaign of Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, because it wanted US President Donald Trump to win, while the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has reportedly reached opposite conclusions from the same raw intelligence. Russia has repeatedly refuted the allegations.