The White House on Thursday asked Russian President Vladimir Putin to "stop interfering" in US presidential elections after he expressed support for Democratic Party candidate Kamala Harris. This comes after Washington charged two employees of state-run Russian news network RT and slapped sanctions on its top editors for trying to influence the upcoming polls in the US.
"The only people who should get to determine who the next president of United States is are the American people, and we would greatly appreciate it if Mr. Putin would, a) stop talking about our election, and b) stop interfering in it," National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters, as reported by news agency AFP.
Putin Backs Harris In US Polls
Speaking at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok on Thursday, September 5, Putin expressed his support for Harris in the upcoming US ballots, saying that he admires her "infectious laugh".
"Firstly, (US President Joe) Biden recommended all his supporters support Mrs Harris. Here, we are going to do that too, we're going to support her," Putin said, in response to a query about his favourites candidate in the US election after Biden dropped out.
"She laughs so contagiously that it shows that everything is fine with her," the Russian leader added.
Putin further stated that former president Donald Trump had imposed multiple sanctions on Russia and hoped Harris might refrain from doing the same. "Trump has imposed as many sanctions on Russia as any president has ever imposed before, and if Harris is doing well, perhaps she will refrain from such actions," AFP quoted him as saying.
Russian Lawmakers Denounce US Sanctions Against State Media Network
The US justice department had filed money-laundering charges against two employees of the Russian media network, accusing them of scheming to hire a US company to generate online content to influence November polls. This move was denounced by Russian lawmakers, who called it an infringement of freedom of speech. The Russoan Foreign Ministry has also emphasised repeatedly that the country has not meddlef in the US election, but is only watching it closely, Reuters reported.
Leonid Slutsky, chairman of the State Duma lower house's foreign affairs committee, called the sanctions "a witch-hunt, pressure on freedom of speech and vulgar censorship". Deputy Chairman of Russia's upper house of parliament, Konstantin Kosachev, said that the reason behind the action taken by the US is the "increasing popularity and demand" of Russian media.
"That is the reason behind the rabid reaction of the U.S. authorities, which is totally at odds with the principles of freedom of speech and defending the rights of journalists," he said.