Russian businessmen actively contact their partners from all over the world, but nowhere have their business contacts been taken to such an absurd level as in the Mueller report, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Friday.
“It’s their work. The businessmen invest money, attract capital from the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF). They are interested in communication and looking for more new contacts. They communicate with relevant officials in the government, in the Economic Development Ministry, in the White House, and so on. The same thing occurs in all countries, but, fortunately, nowhere it is taken to such an absurd level as in the Muller report”, Peskov said.
The spokesman added that it was Russian President Vladimir Putin’s normal practice to meet with prominent businessmen, including Alfa-Bank chief Petr Aven, who had also been mentioned in the Mueller report.
“I don’t know if I can say that [Putin] regularly met [with Aven]. There have been certain meetings… It is common practice that Putin meets with prominent businessmen who run socially and economically important businesses”, Peskov said.
He also noted that the report, issued by the Special Council “does not have any kind of substantiated evidence that Russia allegedly interfered in the US electoral process”. According to Peskov, the document has “nothing new”.
On Thursday, the redacted version of the Mueller report indicated that a number of prominent Russian businessmen had contacted officials from the US President Donald Trump’s campaign.
The document stated there was no evidence of any collusion between Russia and Trump or his team during the 2016 US presidential elections, however, it did not exonerate Trump of obstruction charges and concluded that Russia did try to interfere in the US election on his behalf.