Russia: Mueller report shows 'no reasonable proof' of Russian meddling

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Russia on Friday dismissed U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report, saying it failed to present clear evidence of any meddling by Moscow in the 2016 U.S. election and called its impact on relations regrettable.

Mueller's report, released on Thursday, ruled that Trump's campaign did not criminally conspire with Russians to skew the election, and drew no conclusion on allegations of obstruction.

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"As a whole the report as before does not present any reasonable proof at all that Russia allegedly meddled in the electoral process in the U.S.," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists, saying it contained "no new information."

Russia has consistently rejected any suggestion that it interfered in the 2016 election won by Trump. "We regret that documents of such quality have a direct influence on the development of U.S.-Russia bilateral relations which are not in the best shape as it is," said Peskov.

In this screenshot taken from the U.S. Department of Justice website, a redacted page from the Mueller Report is seen on April 18, 2019. /AFP Photo

Also on Friday, the director of the Russian Foreign Ministry's North America Department, Georgy Borisenko said when asked comments on Mueller's report that "the report confirms the absence of any arguments to the effect Russia allegedly intervened in the U.S. election."

"Not a single piece of evidence is there. The authors of the report have in fact confessed they have nothing to report," said Borisenko, as TASS reported.

(Cover: U.S. Attorney General William Barr speaks at a news conference to discuss Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report on Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential race, in Washington, U.S., April 18, 2019. /Reuters Photo)

Source(s): AFP ,Reuters