Russia's Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov sought to tamp down the veracity of special counsel Robert Mueller's probe into claims of meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election following Friday's announcement that 12 Russians officials had been indicted, Mediaite reported Saturday.
"I can't agree that this was a report done by the entire American intelligence community," Lavrov told Larry King, host of "Politicking" on Russia's state-funded news outlet RT.
Lavrov described the conclusions as "nothing new" and "inertia by the Cold War thinking," stressing that one report conducted by the U.S. on Russian meddling "showed inefficiencies and inaccuracies and inconsistencies." He said reports the U.S. makes about Russian interference in elections were just "assertions" and contained "no single fact."
King asked if Lavrov was thereby denying Russian involvement in U.S. elections and he responded that Russian President Vladimir Putin had repeatedly denied those accusations.
Lavrov also said the upcoming meeting on Monday between Putin and President Donald Trump would be conducted one-on-one with only two translators also in the room. He said topics he expected the two leaders to discuss included Syria and North Korea.
The summit would be a success, he suggested, if the two leaders could "agree" and "engage all the channels on all the issues which are divisive."
Lavrov also broached the topic of allegations Russia poisoned former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, contending it was politically motivated.
"Now this is becoming contagious, I believe, and highly likely thing and the assertion that there is no other credible explanation is becoming a rule on which the Western friends try to base their policy on Russia," he said.