Clinton responds to Putin, says their concerns are "well-founded"
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Thursday she had expressed "well-founded" concerns about the conduct of Russia's parliamentary election earlier this week.
This came after Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin accused the United States of encouraging protests over Russia's parliamentary election and said hundreds of millions of dollars in foreign funds were used to influence the vote.
In his first public remarks about daily demonstrations by protesters alleging Sunday's vote was fraudulent and unfair, Putin said US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton "gave a signal to Kremlin opponents, "They [protesters] heard this signal and with the support of the U.S. State Department began their active work."
During the Vilnius-hosted OSCE Ministerial Council meeting, Hillary said she did not consider the Russian elections "as free nor fair," thereby arousing Putin's resentment.
On the eve, Clinton responded to Putin's accusations at a meeting in Brussels, saying that her concerns and comments were "well-founded." "The Russian people, like people everywhere, deserve the right to have their voices heard and votes counted," said the U.S. Secretary of State.
