Reports by Dutch media that the intelligence services of the Netherlands allegedly provided the United States with information on a hacking group from Russia and its involvement in the 2016 US presidential election are only further fueling the anti-Russian hysteria in the West, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Friday.
“There is nothing to say,” Peskov said, when asked whether Moscow was aware that Dutch intelligence services had been tracking activities of a hacking group from Russia for two years and provided their US counterparts with information about the group’s alleged involvement in the 2016 presidential election.
“The Dutch newspapers are only further fueling anti-Russian hysteria, which is taking place in the United States — it’s not a very noble activity. Anyway, we want to remind you that we have not seen or heard any statements by Dutch intelligence services regarding this issue. It is also not reliable to cite the information provided by the Dutch newspapers,” Peskov added.
On Thursday, Dutch media reported that the country’s General Intelligence and Security Service (AIVD) spied on the Russian group believed to be behind the hack of the Democratic Party ahead of the US elections.
Russia has repeatedly called the claims of alleged interference in the US election as groundless and aimed to distract the public from pressing domestic issues.
Commenting on the growing number of foreign states’ accusations of alleged attempts by Moscow to “undermine democracy,” Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has called the claims ridiculous, emphasizing that there was no proof that Russia was involved in the election processes of the United States, Germany, France, or the United Kingdom.