Iran Press- John Bolton, U.S. national security adviser, speaking after holding talks in Geneva with Nikolai Patrushev, director of the Russian national security council, said that the issue of meddling had prevented a joint final statement by the two sides.
"I made it clear we wouldn't tolerate (election) meddling in 2018 and we were prepared to take necessary steps to prevent it from happening," Bolton told a news conference, Reuters reported.
The United States has already imposed economic sanctions against Russia over its alleged meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Moscow denies the allegations.
Recently, the aftershocks of Trump’s news conference in Helsinki with Putin in which he seemed to question U.S. intelligence agencies’ finding that Russia meddled in the 2016 U.S. election were continuing to rattle lawmakers from both parties. Although Trump attempted to clarify his stance on Tuesday, his often-stated goal of improving relations with Russia was dealt a blow in Congress.
He continued to cause confusion over his position, when during an event at the White House, Trump answered “no” after a reporter asked him whether Russia is still targeting the U.S. That contradicts a statement put out by Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats after the Helsinki news conference that cited Russia’s “ongoing, pervasive efforts to undermine our democracy.”
Earlier, the US Department of State announced in a press release new sanctions on Russia on the basis of the allegations of chemical weapon use by Moscow against former Russian intelligence officer Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in the United Kingdom and demanded that Moscow allow international on-site inspections.
A senior State Department official said in a conference call with reporters on Wednesday that the first wave of sanctions will take effect on or around August 22 and will ban licenses for exports of sensitive national security material to Russia.
Video from Reuters
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