Image copyright Reuters Symbol caption The leaders will reportedly discuss US-Russia relations and nationwide safety issues on Monday
US President Donald Trump has criticised the management of his predecessor Barack Obama over alleged Russian hacking to help him win the 2016 presidential election.
“Why did not they do something about it?” he tweeted, adding that Mr Obama had been told approximately it earlier than the vote.
It follows power on Mr Trump to cancel Monday’s talks with Russia’s Vladimir Putin following the indictment of 12 Russians on Friday.
Russia denies allegations of hacking.
Mr Trump is as a result of meet Mr Putin within the Finnish capital Helsinki.
The tales you heard about the 12 Russians the previous day came about during the Obama Administration, not the Trump Management. Why didn ’t they do one thing about it, especially when it was once reported that President Obama used to be knowledgeable via the FBI in September, ahead of the Election?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 14, 2018
Finish of Twitter post through @realDonaldTrump
Russia said it used to be looking forward to the meeting.
“We imagine Trump a negotiating partner,” stated Kremlin adviser Yuri Ushakov. “The state of bilateral relations could be very bad. we now have to start out to set them proper.”
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But The hacking allegations have sparked a heated battle of words between Washington and Moscow.
US Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein insisted that “the purpose of the conspirators was to have an affect at the election”.
But Russia’s overseas ministry mentioned the claims had been a “heap of conspiracy schemes” intended to “harm the atmosphere” earlier than Monday’s summit.
It mentioned there was no proof linking any of the dozen officers to hacking or military intelligence.
What are the allegations?
The 11-depend indictment names the Russians defendants, alleging they started cyber-attacks in March 2016 on the e mail bills of personnel for Hillary Clinton’s presidential marketing campaign.
They are accused of the usage of keystroke reading device to spy on the chair of the Democratic Nationwide Committee (DNC) and hack into the party’s computers.
Mr Rosenstein said the conspirators used fictitious on-line personas, including “DCLeaks” and “Guccifer 2.0”, to release heaps of stolen emails.
They are also accused of stealing the information of half 1,000,000 citizens from a state election board website.
What power is there to cancel the talks?
All The Way Through a joint information conference with UK Prime Minister Theresa Might on Friday, Mr Trump said he may “absolutely” ask the Russian president approximately alleged election meddling.
But most sensible Democrats have steered him to cancel the deliberate summit altogether following the indictment.
.@realDonaldTrump must immediately cancel his assembly with Putin. #ProtectOurDemocracy
— Nancy Pelosi (@NancyPelosi) July 13, 2018
End of Twitter put up by means of @NancyPelosi
“President Trump should completely cancel this meeting with Putin on Monday,” mentioned DNC chairman Tom Perez. “He Is no longer a chum of the United States.”
“President Trump must cancel his assembly with Vladimir Putin until Russia takes demonstrable and transparent steps to end up that they won’t intervene in long run elections,” mentioned Senate Democratic chief Chuck Schumer.
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at the Republican facet, Senator John McCain said the summit “cannot move ahead” except the president “is ready to hold Putin responsible”.
Media captionPutin laughs at political chaos in US
what’s the massive image?
Unique Recommend Robert Mueller is investigating US intelligence findings that Russians conspired to sway the 2016 election in Mr Trump’s favour.
As of Friday, the inquiry has indicted 32 folks – mostly Russian nationals in absentia – to boot as 3 companies and four former Trump advisers.
None of the charges allege Trump advisers colluded with Russia to interfere with the presidential campaign.
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Former Nationwide Safety Adviser Michael Flynn and George Papadopoulos, a former foreign coverage adviser, have pleaded accountable to making false statements approximately their contacts with Russians.
Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and his deputy Rick Gates have been charged with money laundering in relation to their political consultancy work in Ukraine.
