The Kremlin strongly condemned any violence in the context of politics, spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Sunday following an attack on Donald Trump.
The former US president was hit in the ear in an assassination attempt during a campaign rally on Saturday that saw the shooter and a bystander killed and two spectators critically injured.
The Kremlin “strongly condemns any example of violence in the context of political competition”, Peskov said in a telephone press conference.
He expressed Russia’s “condolences” to “the family of the victim killed in this attack” and wished those injured a speedy recovery.
Both Peskov and Russia’s foreign ministry said the attack was predictable.
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“After numerous attempts to eliminate candidate Trump from the political arena using first all legal tools — courts, prosecutors, attempts of political discrediting — it is obvious to all outside observers that his life is in danger,” Peskov said, adding however that “we do not at all believe that the attempt was organised by the current power”.
Foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova addressed a message to “those in the United States who vote to supply weapons to” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as his country tries to fend off advancing Russian troops.
Zakharova advised Washington to make an “inventory” of its “policies of incitement to hatred against political opponents, countries and peoples”.
She said such policies included US support for Ukraine.
“Maybe it would be better to use this money to finance American police and other services meant to ensure law and order in the United States,” she wrote on Telegram.
Western countries on numerous occasions have accused Moscow of violently eliminating political opponents, something the Vladimir Putin regime denies.
Most recently, prominent Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny died in an Arctic prison in February in mysterious circumstances.
