U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley believes that nobody accepts the explanations of Trump's Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin regarding the alleged "interference of the Russian Federation" in the 2016 US presidential elections.
President Putin and Trump held their first meeting on Friday at the G20 summit in Hamburg. On Saturday, the Russian president said during a press conference that the American leader agreed with his statement that Russia did not interfere in the 2016 elections in the United States.
Trump did not comment on his conversation with Putin, saying only that it was "terrific."
Haley says everyone knows Russia meddled in 2016 elections
Haley wanted Trump to let Putin understand that the U.S. knows about how Russia interfered in the 2016 elections. "Yes, we know you meddled in our elections and cut it out," Haley said in an interview with CNN.
According to her, Putin was hiding his face from Trump over meddling in the 2016 elections. "Everyone knows that Russia interfered in US elections," the diplomat said. She also added that the other world leaders have similar beliefs as Russia has tried meddling in the other elections.
Rex Tillerson's statement
The Washington Examiner reported that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson attended the meeting and said that President Trump repeatedly raised the issue of "Russian interference," and his Russian counterpart denied it.
Haley, as a US ambassador to the United Nations, has a separate post in the US administration.
At a press conference, Putin said, he believes Trump was satisfied with his denial of meddling in the 2016 elections. Over the past few months since Haley's appointment, she has repeatedly spoken about Russia in much harsher terms than Trump and Tillerson.
Russia has repeatedly refuted accusations of trying to influence elections in different countries, and Dmitry Peskov, the presidential press secretary, called them "absolutely unsubstantiated." Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, speaking of alleged Russian intervention in the elections in the U.S., France, and Germany, said that there are no facts confirming it.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the United States interfered in foreign political processes around the world, but is now offended by Russia, which allegedly interfered in their election, although in fact for the Russian Federation such interference does not make sense.
