Putin urged US to end obscurantism in relations

Russian President Vladimir Putin has called for an end to the "obscurantism" that is poisoning Russian-American relations.

“I want—I’ll say it quite seriously—I want the obscurantism associated with the imaginary interference of the Russian Federation in some kind of election campaign in the United States to end, so that finally the United States, the American elites, the elites of the United States will calm down, and eventually sort out between ourselves,” Putin said, speaking at the international forum “Russian Energy Week”.

He also called on American politicians to restore "balance and a certain balance of common sense and national interests."

“[I would like] that internal political squabbles in the United States themselves do not poison Russian-American relations and do not negatively affect the situation in the world,” said Putin.

The American intelligence community accuses Russia of interfering in the presidential election in 2016. Moscow strongly rejects these accusations.

Putin also said that US sanctions against Russia and other countries are undermining confidence in the US dollar.

“It seems to me that our American partners are making a colossal strategic mistake, undermining confidence in the dollar as a universal, in fact, the only reserve currency today,” he said. “They undermine faith in it as in this universal tool, they really saw the branch on which they sit.”

“It is strange, even to me, surprisingly, but it seems to me a typical mistake of any empire, when people think that nothing will happen, that everything is so powerful, so strong, everything is so stable that there will be no negative consequences. But no, they come sooner or later, ”he said.

Putin also called Sergei Vicker, a former spy who was tried to be poisoned with the help of a military nerve agent in the UK, a traitor and a “scum”.

He reiterated that Russia was not involved in the poisoning.

Previously, the Netherlands Ministry of Defense aboutannounced on the prevention of cyber attacks on the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). In the meantime, the US Department of Justice has charged seven Russians, who are considered to be employees of the Main Intelligence Directorate of Russia (GRU), for involvement in cyber attacks. According to investigators, they are accused of cyber attacks, money laundering and illegal data collection.