Putin and Trump Criticize Members of the Democratic Party and Spread of 'Fake News'

On Tuesday, the presidents of Russia and the United States separately reiterated their denial of allegations regarding the relationship between Donald Trump's campaign and Russia, or Moscow's 'interference' in last year's U.S. elections, while criticizing the Democratic Party and the dissemination of what they termed 'fake news.' Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, strongly rejected accusations related to his government's interference in last year's U.S. elections, hacking the emails of the Democratic National Committee, and leaking them. Putin stated that these accusations stem from 'the desire of those who lost the U.S. elections to improve their position.' According to the Russian president, Democrats 'want to convince themselves and others that their policies were correct and that everything they did was done very well, but someone cheated from the outside... This is not true; in fact, they lost and must accept this.' He added that members of the Democratic Party have 'woven a web' regarding Russia because, according to Putin, 'they hate to accept that their defeat was due to the victory of someone closer to the people and with a better understanding of their demands.' In his interview with 'Figaro,' Putin referred to Trump's election promises to improve relations with Russia, and the 'power of bureaucracy' in preventing this, stating, 'This is not an easy task, and I say this without joking. Not because no one wants this to happen (improvement of relations), but because it is a difficult job.' Hours before this interview, Donald Trump, the U.S. president, also criticized the Democratic Party on his Twitter account, saying that Russian officials 'should be laughing at America and the excuses that are filled with fake news to justify the Democrats' defeat.' Trump has repeatedly labeled some reports published in several prominent media outlets as 'fake news.' On the other hand, these reports are mainly focused on estimates published by U.S. intelligence and security agencies last December regarding what has been described as 'Moscow's attempts to interfere in the U.S. elections.' The Russian president told 'Figaro' that in his view, the current desire in Washington to conduct investigations into Trump's associates and Russian officials will subside, and relations between the two sides will improve. In recent weeks, the U.S. Department of Justice appointed a special counsel to investigate the allegations regarding Moscow's electoral interference and whether members of Donald Trump's campaign had any relations with Russia during or after the elections.