MOSCOW (AP) – Claims by President Donald Trump that his phones were wiretapped by his predecessor, Barack Obama, during the 2016 election campaign are a purely domestic matter for the United States, the spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday.
The claim came amid revelations about contacts between Trump aides and Russia’s ambassador to the U.S., both during and after an election that U.S. intelligence agencies alleged Russia had meddled in.
When asked about Trump’s allegations, made without evidence on Twitter, Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that the Kremlin “should not be in any way linked to U.S. domestic issues” and “doesn’t have the slightest inclination or intention to be associated with these affairs.”
In the past, Russian officials have come to Trump’s defense, decrying his opponents for resisting efforts to improve relations between Washington and Moscow.
Trump has been dogged for months by questions about his campaign’s ties to Russia. Disclosures about contacts with Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak cost Michael Flynn his job as national security adviser.