US-Russia relations ‘maybe worse’ now than Cold War, says Putin’s spokesman

The relationship between the U.S. and Russia may be more antagonistic now than it was during the decades-long Cold War, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s top spokesman said Friday.

Asked by ABC’s “Good Morning America” host George Stephanopoulos if the U.S. and Russia were in a “new Cold War,” Dmitry Peskov said the current situation may be worse, blaming the U.S. for disintegrating of cooperation between the two countries.

“New Cold War? Well, maybe even worse. Maybe even worse taking into account actions of the present presidential administration in Washington,” Peskov told Stephanopoulos.

Peskov cited a decision to expel 35 Russian diplomats from the U.S. in December, which was made under former President Obama and not President Trump.

The relationship between Trump and Russia has been the subject of intense scrutiny since before the real estate mogul took office in January. The U.S. intelligence committee unanimously concluded late last year that the Kremlin meddled in the 2016 election to help Trump, and he has spoken warmly of Putin, expressing a desire to improve U.S.-Russian relations.

The House and Senate intelligence committees are conducting a probe of Russian election meddling, as well as Trump and his aides’ alleged ties to Moscow. The FBI is also investigating.

Putin denied that Russia sought to interfere in the presidential election, and has blamed the accusations on anti-Russian sentiment in the U.S. But intelligence officials have warned that the Kremlin is likely to try to meddle in other upcoming elections across Western Europe.

The Hill