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20:33, 25-Mar-2019
Russia denies meddling in U.S. vote, says ready to improve ties
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The Kremlin on Monday reiterated its denial that Moscow interfered in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, after the conclusion of a U.S. investigation into collusion between Donald Trump and Russia in the 2016 election.
U.S. Attorney General William Barr said in a summary released on Sunday that Special Counsel Robert Mueller had found no evidence of collusion in his investigation.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists he had not seen the report but Russia's "principled position on this matter is well known: our country has not interfered in the domestic affairs of other countries, including the United States."
The Kremlin said it was ready to improve ties with the United States but that it was up to Washington to make the first move.
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Relations between Moscow and Washington have deteriorated over the past two years since the launch of a probe into whether Trump's campaign colluded with Russia to help the Republican defeat his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton.
The U.S. president, who has long denied any collusion with Moscow, quickly hailed Sunday's announcement as "complete and total exoneration."
"No Collusion, No Obstruction, Complete and Total EXONERATION," Trump tweeted after Barr's four-page summary of the Mueller report was released.
Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin held an official summit in July last year in Finland's capital Helsinki. They also met briefly on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Argentina on November 30, 2018.
(With inputs from agencies)
(Cover: U.S. President Donald Trump (L) shakes hands with Russian President Vladimir Putin during a joint press conference in Helsinki, Finland, July 16, 2018. /VCG Photo)
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