With less than a month before Joe Biden moves into the White House, Moscow on Wednesday accused the incoming U.S. administration of “Russophobia” after the President-elect promised to punish Russia for a major cyberattack.
Mr. Biden is expected to take a tougher stance against Russia than Donald Trump.
Russian President Vladimir Putin was one of the last leaders to congratulate Mr. Biden on his election victory, sending his congratulatory message six weeks after the November 3 vote and saying he was ready for “collaboration”.
Mr. Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Wednesday said the Kremlin was expecting “nothing positive” in ties with Washington.
Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov struck a similar note, speaking about Moscow’s expectations from the future U.S. administration. “We are definitely not expecting anything good,” he said in an interview with Interfax news agency. “And it would be strange to expect good things from people, many of whom made their careers on Russophobia and throwing mud at my country,” he added.
Washington has accused Russia of a major cyberattack on government agencies — a claim Moscow has denied. Mr. Biden on Tuesday said the attack cannot go “unanswered”, promising to retaliate once he steps into office. He also accused Mr. Trump of downplaying the gravity of the attack.
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