RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin says US President Donald Trump did not pass any secrets onto Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov during a meeting in Washington last week and that he can prove it.
Speaking at a news conference alongside Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni, Mr Putin quipped that Mr Lavrov had not passed what he said were the non-existent secrets onto him either.
Mr Putin said Russia was ready to hand a transcript of Mr Trump’s meeting with Mr Lavrov over to US politicians if that would help reassure them.
“If the US administration finds it possible, we are ready to provide a recording of the conversation between Lavrov and Trump to the US Congress and Senate,” Mr Putin said during a press conference.
He mocked the idea that Mr Trump went off-script to share secrets with the Russians, saying he could issue a “reprimand” to Mr Lavrov since he hasn’t passed on the information.
“(Lavrov) didn’t share these secrets with us — neither with me nor with the representatives of the Russian security services. That is very bad of him,” Mr Putin said to sniggers from the audience.
Mr Putin slammed critics who spread allegations about Mr Trump’s ties with Russia.
“What else will the people generating such drivel and nonsense think of next?” he said. “They are shaking up their internal politics while using anti-Russian slogans.”
“They either don’t understand that they are hurting their own country, and then they are simply dumb, or they understand everything and then they are dangerous and corrupt,” Mr Putin added.
Mr Trump came under fire earlier this week after it was revealed that he shared the sensitive intelligence with Mr Lavrov and Russian ambassador to the US Sergei Kislyak.
Mr Putin said he had “no other explanation” as to why Mr Trump came under attack other than “political schizophrenia.”
Mr Trump has frequently said he wants to improve US relations with Moscow, damaged by years of disagreement over Russia’s role in Ukraine and its backing for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Controversy over Russia has also laid bare sharp divisions between the White House and US intelligence agencies.