FROM EIR DAILY ALERT

It’s the U.S. That Is Meddling in Russian Elections, Not the Other Way Around

March 5, 2018 (EIRNS)—The interim Commission for the Protection of State Sovereignty and Prevention of Interference in Russia’s Internal Affairs, created by the Federation Council (the upper house of Russia’s bicameral Federal Assembly), has just issued its annual report documenting the extent of U.S. interference in Russia’s elections going back as far as 2011.

Speaking at a meeting of the commission at the Federation Council, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov described that the Foreign Ministry has consistently collected intelligence on U.S. meddling in Russia’s internal affairs, including elections, saying “I support the need to zone in on efforts by our opponents to sway young people and work in the regions,” reported TASS. He particularly referenced “information warfare,” which, he predicted, will grow more bitter, “and something we will have to live with during the upcoming [electoral] period.” Washington, he continued,

“not only interferes in Russia’s internal affairs through various channels and in various forms, but also tries to blame Russia for pseudo-interference in America’s domestic affairs.”

Ryabkov said that the Foreign Ministry has streamlined efforts to collect relevant information on foreign meddling.

Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov, asked about U.S. election interference responded,

“That the United States has a rich tradition of meddling in the internal affairs and electoral processes in many countries throughout the world, including our country, is not a secret for anyone. This was acknowledged by the Americans themselves,”

but then directed the questioner to the Foreign Ministry for a response.

Ryabkov, in his remarks at the Federation Council, also warned that U.S. “hotheads” are attempting to create an atmosphere of chaos in Russia, methods already tested in Ukraine, Libya, and Iraq. He stated that for the last 20 years, the U.S. has tried to achieve its political goals

“under the guise of the struggle for democracy ... causing wars and destroying a number of countries. Yugoslavia is no more, Iraq and Libya are bursting at the seams,”

not to mention Ukraine.

Commission chair, Sen. Andrei Klimov, said that foreign interference didn’t influence the course of elections, thanks to Russia’s social and political stability, and to the measures taken by Russian authorities to protect citizens’ constitutional rights. The Commission report also details the deployment of the U.S. embassy’s and consulates’ Russian employees to different regions of the country to profile voters on their perception of the country’s economic and social situation, and effects of economic sanctions.

Aside from outside financing of Russian political opposition, the report also pointed to the “training” of promising Russian political figures abroad.

“Such sort of ‘training’ is normally of an anti-Russia nature and is hosted, in particular, in the Baltic countries and in the U.S. with the participation of officials of these countries,” Klimov said.