Putin Criticises U.S For Linking Ransomware Attacks To Russia

Russian President, Vladimir Putin has criticised the United States for linking high profile ransomware attacks to the Russian state.

Gatekeepers News reports that President Vladimir Putin on Friday said it was ‘absurd’ for the U.S to insinuates the Russian state was linked to high profile ransomware attacks

According to Putin, the suggestions are an attempt to arouse trouble ahead of his summit this month with U.S President Joe Biden.

This week’s hack of Brazilian meatpacker JBS’s facilities in the U.S, becomes the third ransomware hack in the country since Biden took office in January.

JBS told the White House the hack arose from a criminal organisation likely based in Russia.

On Wednesday, the White House hinted that Biden, who is due to hold talks with Putin in Geneva on June 16, is expected to discuss the hacking attacks with the Russian President to see how such cyber assaults can be prevented.

Putin, while speaking on the sidelines of the St Petersburg Economic Forum, told Russia’s state TV Channel One that the idea of Russian state involvement was absurd.

“It’s just nonsense, it’s funny,” said Putin. “It’s absurd to accuse Russia of this.”

He said he was, however, elated, by efforts by some people in the U.S to challenge the basis of such accusations and try to work out what is going on.

“Thank goodness there are people with common sense who are asking (themselves) this question and are putting the question to those who are trying to provoke a new conflict before our meeting with Biden,” said Putin.

Putin, while describing Biden as an experienced politician, Putin said he expected the Geneva summit to be held in a positive atmosphere.

Gatekeepers News reports that the meeting would focus on charting a path to restore battered U.S-Russia ties which are strained by everything from Russia’s jailing of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny to Ukraine to Syria, he said.

Earlier on Friday, Putin told the same economic forum that the United States was openly trying to hold back Russia’s development and accused Washington of wielding the dollar as a tool of economic and political competition.

“We have no disagreement with the United States. They only have one point of disagreement – they want to hold back our development, they talk about this publicly,” Putin told the forum.

“Everything else stems from this position,” he said.

Putin also queried what he described as the ‘harsh’ way U.S. authorities had dealt with some people detained during the storming of the Capitol in January by supporters of Donald Trump.