The Kremlin on Friday dismissed President Donald Trump’s assertion that Russia poses a threat to US electoral systems, with spokesman Dmitry Peskov stating that American investigations had already concluded Moscow exerted no influence on US elections. The response followed a national address in which Trump, citing newly declassified intelligence, named Russia, China, Iran, North Korea and non-state groups as adversaries capable of targeting electoral infrastructure.

Peskov told journalists that Russia “never interferes in the internal affairs of others” and expects reciprocal treatment. He described the intelligence underpinning Trump’s remarks as “impersonal, unsubstantiated information” and pointed to findings by US parliamentary commissions and the Department of Justice that, according to Moscow, found no evidence of Russian meddling. “These were conclusions not of our security services, but of American ones,” Peskov said. Beijing issued a parallel rejection, with foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian calling the accusations “pure fiction and malicious slander” and reiterating China’s principle of non-interference.

The exchange unfolds as the US Department of Justice has opened an investigation into allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and possible procedural violations by former FBI Director James Comey and former CIA Director John Brennan. Viewed from Washington, the declassification of intelligence reports and the new probe signal a dual effort to address current vulnerabilities while re-examining the origins of the “Russiagate” investigations that dominated Trump’s first term. In Moscow, officials treat the renewed accusations as a continuation of claims that earlier US inquiries had already dismissed.

The pattern of election-meddling allegations has been a persistent irritant in US-Russia relations since 2016. The current DOJ investigation, which examines whether officials mishandled the original inquiry, adds a layer of internal US scrutiny to the diplomatic standoff. No immediate further steps have been announced by either side, but the investigation is expected to proceed, while Moscow maintains that the matter was settled by prior American findings.