State Department: Russia spent $300 million to influence global politics

Hidden funds directed by Moscowto the tune of $300 million, have been funneled to more than 12 countries since 2014 to influence politicians and other officials.

A telegram from State Department is what reveals Russia’s attempt to bolster Moscow-friendly politicians and parties by paying large sums of money. According to the cable, there was a new intelligence assessment in which – among other things – Russia’s intention to start a war with Ukraine had been confirmed. It’s the same assessment that said Russian President Vladimir Putin had campaigned extensively to influence the 2016 and 2020 US presidential elections.

A senior government official declined to say how much money Russia is believed to have spent in Ukraine, where President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his top deputies have long accused Putin of meddling in domestic politics. The official noted allegations of Russian influence in recent elections in Albania, Bosnia and Montenegro, as well as in Eastern European countries that have faced historic pressure from Moscow, ABC News reported.

Putin was spending huge sums “in an attempt to manipulate democracies from within,” the official said.

The State Department spokesman Ned Price called Russia’s secret funding “an attack on sovereignty.”

“It’s an attempt to eliminate the ability of people around the world to choose the governments they think are best suited to represent them, to represent their interests and to represent their values,” he said.

The State Department took the unusual step of releasing a diplomatic cable sent Monday to several US embassies and consulates abroad, many of them in Europe, Africa and South Asia, outlining the concerns.

According to the cable, intelligence officials were convinced that the Russia he planned to transfer hundreds of millions of dollars more so that he could fund sympathetic parties and politicians around the world.

Josh Rudolph, a fellow at the Alliance for the Defense of Democracy at the German Marshall Fund that investigates Russian and Chinese economic influence, compared the White House’s decision to release the new findings to the declassification of Russian plans and intentions in the Ukraine war.

“That made a lot of sense because it made the Ukrainians ready for their own defense and helped rally the Europeans, build an international coalition,” Rudolph said. “It (the new telegram) can have all these same advantages, but also destroy the function itself. If the target is voters, then the main thing you need to do is reach out to those voters and let them know what’s happening to them.”

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