No talks on Russia meddling in election: Lavrov

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Wednesday said that he and US President Trump "did not even raise" the issue of any Russian meddling in the election in their meeting.

The meeting came a day after Trump fired FBI Director James Comey, who had been in charge of the investigation into any ties between Russia and the Trump campaign, CBS News reported.

Lavrov, after meeting with Trump and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Wednesday morning, emphasised that the topic did not need to be raised because both he and the US President had already thoroughly addressed it publicly.

Lavrov said "not a single fact" exists to support any Russian intervention in the election, and Trump has persistently called any Russia-US ties "fake news."

"That is why there is no need for him to tell us anything, or to give us assurance behind closed doors," Lavrov said, asked if he received any assurances from Trump about his belief that Russians had meddled in the 2016 election.

Lavrov told reporters the "noise about our contacts (with Trump associates), the fake information" makes for "abnormal background" for relations with the US, calling the whole situation "humiliating" for the American people.

"I believe that politicians are damaging the political system of the US trying to pretend that someone is controlling America from the outside," Lavrov said.

Earlier in the day, Russian President Vladimir Putin, referring to Comey's firing, said, "We had nothing to do with that."

--IANS

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