Kremlin says Trump's conviction looks like 'attempt to eliminate political rival'

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA) - The guilty verdict and accusations against former US President Donald Trump appear to be "attempts by the current authorities to eliminate political rivals by any means," the Kremlin said on Friday.

Speaking at a news conference in Moscow, spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia typically avoids commenting on foreign court verdicts, but "if we talk about Trump in general, it is obvious that there is actually the elimination of political rivals by all possible legal and illegal means."

In a historic criminal trial, Trump was convicted on Thursday on all 34 counts of falsifying business records linked to a hush-money payment made to Stormy Daniels. He has called the verdict a "disgrace."

The Nov. 5 presidential election will be a rematch between Trump, who can run despite being convicted, and incumbent Joe Biden.

Regarding Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban's remarks that Europe has entered an intermediate stage of preparation for war with Russia, Peskov said Moscow's perspective aligns with that of Budapest.

"There is an absolute escalation, the escalation of such pro-war sentiments, deliberately inciting such pre-war hysteria. And all this, of course, cannot but have a very negative impact on the overall situation. The escalation of tension continues," he said.

Some European countries and the US have allowed Ukraine, where Russia launched a "special military operation" in 2022, to use their weapons to strike Russian territory.

"This is more than eloquent evidence of the degree of involvement of the United States in this conflict," he said.

Peskov supported China's decision to refrain from participating in an international conference on Ukraine in Switzerland in mid-June, saying Russia shares China's approach to the settlement in Ukraine.

"From the very beginning, China spoke about the absolute futility of holding such formats without Russia's participation in the agenda that was announced," he said.

He added that seeking ways to resolve the Ukrainian conflict without Russia's involvement are "empty pastime."