Russia says the West will regret any interference in its upcoming election newsweek.com

Photo: Newsweek

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has warned foreign actors to stay away from his country’s elections, stating that they would “regret” any attempt to interfere in the country’s upcoming parliamentary elections.

Lavrov said “it is not ruled out” that in the run-up to the elections for the lower house, or State Duma, “we will see new attempts to shake, destabilize the situation, to provoke protests, preferably violent protests, as the West is in the habit of doing.”

“A campaign for the non-recognition of our elections will probably follow,” he said during a lecture at Russia’s Far Eastern Federal University in Vladivostok on Thursday, according to news agency Tass. “Such plans do exist and we know about them.”

Moscow is accused of meddling in U.S elections in the past and elsewhere. Lavrov’s statements suggest that Russia would blame Western countries should there be any protests as the country go to the polls in September.

Read the full story