‘Just tip of the iceberg’: US: Kremlin spent $300 million on bribes

“Just the tip of the iceberg”
USA: Kremlin spent $300 million on bribes

09/14/2022, 02:19 am

Since the Trump election in 2016, the United States has been particularly cautious in terms of Russian influence. A US intelligence report now reveals the amount Moscow is said to have secretly funded foreign politicians. But Russia probably shifted even more.

According to US intelligence services, Russia has secretly backed political parties and candidates abroad with hundreds of millions of euros. At least $300 million has been transferred from Moscow to more than two dozen countries since 2014 to influence national politics, according to an intelligence report released today.

A senior US government official said the amount mentioned was probably “the tip of the iceberg”. The government representative said Russia probably “secretly transferred more money that was not discovered.” There is no information in the report about which countries the donations from Russia have been given. Among other things, the Russian ambassador is said to have provided several million dollars to a presidential candidate in an unspecified Asian country.

Bosnia-Herzegovina and Ecuador were mentioned in US intelligence reports on Russian influence. US President Joe Biden’s administration requested a report on Russian influence on the policies of other countries after Russia launched an invasion of Ukraine on February 24. A US government official said it was part of Biden’s “democracy summit”, which he began shortly after his election victory over his predecessor, Donald Trump.

Bribery Report: More details follow

The United States had informed foreign parties and politicians that it could and would be made public if they secretly accepted Russian money. In addition, the US government is in the process of releasing selected information from the report.

The report does not pertain to the situation in the United States. US intelligence services previously accused Moscow of interfering in favor of the eventual winner, Donald Trump, in the 2016 US presidential election.