Kremlin slams White House over Putin corruption claim

President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov has suggested that recent comments made by US government officials about the Russian president is part of a smear campaign in the run-up to the 2018 Russian presidential elections, Interfax reported Friday.

US Treasury acting under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence Adam Szubin said in a BBC documentary aired this week that Mr Putin was a “picture of corruption”. However, Pskov added that “the relationship between us [the USA and Russia] at the moment is not at its best, and in this situation a lie could deteriorate it even further”.

The statement was later backed by White House spokesman Josh Earnest, who stated that these claims reflect the view of the U.S. presidential administration.

For the BBC program, titled “Putin’s Secret Riches”, reporter Richard Bilton also talked to former Kremlin insiders who said they know how his wealth – which they said stemmed from corruption on a breathtaking scale – has been hidden.

“It is still a long time till the Russian presidential elections, over two years, but everything testifies to the fact that the preparations to them have already started”.

Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during the IX Congress of the Federation of independent trade unions of Russia in Sochi, Russia, February 7, 2015. The Kremlin later described the remarks as an “official accusation”. “It is clear that the negative potential against our head of the state is being accumulated and used to applying pressure and influencing the future elections campaign in Russian Federation”, he said.