Thaindian News

Moscow, Dec 8 (IANS/RIA Novosti) Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin Thursday accused the US authorities of sponsoring the opposition in Russia and urged harsher punishment for those acting on orders from “foreign states”.

His remarks followed comments by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and other senior Washington officials on the outcome of Russia’s parliamentary elections, in which the pro-Kremlin United Russia party gained almost half of the vote.

The White House said it had “serious concerns” about the polls, which were marred by accusations of ballot-stuffing and other irregularities, with Clinton describing the vote as neither free nor fair.

“I looked at the first reaction of our US colleagues,” Putin said during a meeting with representatives of his All-Russia People’s Front movement in Moscow.

“The [US] secretary of state was quick to evaluate the elections, saying that they are unfair and unjust, even before she received materials from the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR) observers.”

President Dmitry Medvedev said Sunday’s polls were democratic and fair, despite numerous violations registered by international observers, which he said would be investigated.

Clinton’s comments, Putin said, became a “signal” for “our activists, who began active work with the support of the US State Department.”

Massive opposition protests against the alleged vote fraud in favour of the United Russia took place in Moscow and St. Petersburg following Sunday’s elections.

Several thousand protestors participated in marches in downtown Moscow Monday and Tuesday and another major protest is expected to be held Saturday near the Kremlin’s walls.

Following reports of hundreds of protestors detained during the rallies, the US State Department deputy spokesperson Mark Toner said earlier Thursday that the US “would obviously support the rights of anyone to peaceful protest, emphasis on peaceful, anywhere in the world,” including Russia.

–IANS/RIA Novosti
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