Keep your noses out! US issues warning to Putin over election interference

However, Mr Putin immediately hit back, insisting no such interference had occurred in 2016 during the election which saw Mr Pompeo’s boss, Donald Trump, beat Hillary Clinton to the Presidency. Visiting Russia for the first time as Secretary of State, Mr Pompeo met Mr Putin in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi after talks with Mr Lavrov, during which time they clashed on issues ranging from Ukraine to Venezuela. After their meeting, both men said they had been far apart on many issues.

Mr Pompeo said: “I made clear to Foreign Minister Lavrov that interference in American elections is unacceptable.

“If the Russians were engaged in that in 2020 it would put our relationship in an even worse place than it has been.

“I’d encourage them not to do that. We would not tolerate that.”

Attempting to sound a conciliatory note, Mr Pompeo added: “The United States stands ready to find common ground with Russia as long as the two of us can engage seriously.

“President Trump has made clear that his expectation is that we will have an improved relationship between our two countries.

“This will benefit each of our peoples. And I think that our talks here today were a good step in that direction.”

Relations have long been strained by allegations – denied by Moscow – that Russia tried to influence the result three years ago.

Although Mr Pompeo and Mr Lavrov made some positive remarks about the potential for cooperation on nuclear arms control, Pompeo listed a large number of US complaints about Russia.

As well as the issue of interference in US elections, the two men also clashed over Venezuela, with Lavrov sharply criticising Washington for trying to undermine President Nicolas Maduro, who Pompeo said must now step down in the face of economic crisis and large-scale protests against his rule.

On Ukraine, Pompeo told Lavrov the United States would not recognise Moscow’s 2014 annexation of Crimea and would keep in place economic sanctions imposed on Russia over that move.

Russia should now work with Ukraine’s new president-elect to bring peace to eastern Ukraine, said Mr Pompeo, adding that he wanted Moscow to free a group of captured Ukrainian sailors.

Mr Lavrov told reporters the two countries continued to disagree about Iran’s nuclear programme and the international community’s approach to Tehran, while Pompeo said he had raised US concerns about escalating fighting in Syria’s Idlib.

Speaking after meeting with Mr Pompeo hours later, Mr Putin said a report by US Special Counsel Robert Mueller, which he praised as being “objective overall”, had found no evidence of collusion.

He added: “I’ve formed the impression that your president wants to repair Russia-US ties and contacts and wants to solve issues which are of common interest for us.

“We’ve said many times that we also want to fully restore our relations.

“I hope that the necessary conditions for that to happen will now be created.”

source: express.co.uk