Russian FM says Moscow open to release of election docs

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - Russia is open to the release of key documents it says would exonerate it of meddling in the 2016 U.S. election, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Tuesday.

Speaking during a joint press conference with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Lavrov said the Trump administration has declined to agree to the release of the documents that are part of a diplomatic channel the countries used from October 2016 until November 2017.

"We used the channels that existed back then between Moscow and Washington,” Lavrov said in remarks translated from Russian, adding that their publication "would clear many matters up."

U.S. intelligence agencies determined Russia was behind a sweeping disinformation campaign to influence the 2016 elections in favor of U.S. President Donald Trump, but Moscow has staunchly denied the allegations as the Trump administration has imposed sanctions and indicted Russian companies and individuals in retaliation.

Pompeo continued to back the assessment of culpability saying "we don't think there's any mistake about what really transpired there."

"We'll publish all the documents we think appropriate. We think we've shared plenty of facts to show what happened in the 2016 election with our Russian counterparts," he said.