Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday suggested that Russia and the U.S. sign a pact promising to not interfere in each other’s elections.
The U.S. intelligence community concluded in 2017 that Russia conducted covert operations designed to put President Trump in the White House.
The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence last year also confirmed that Russia interfered in the 2016 election with the goal of electing Mr. Trump and has warned that Moscow will likely seek to interfere in the upcoming election.
In a statement, Mr. Putin proposed “exchanging guarantees of non-interference in each other’s internal affairs and electoral processes, including using information and communication technologies and high-tech methods.”
“We would like to once again appeal to the United States with a proposal to approve a comprehensive program of practical measures to reset our relations in the use of information and communication technologies,” he said.
The Russian president proposed that Washington and Moscow sign an agreement to prevent “large-scale confrontation in the digital sphere.” He suggested it could look similar to a 1972 treaty between the U.S. and Soviet Union anti-ballistic missile treaty that was agreed to at the height of the Cold War.
• Lauren Toms can be reached at lmeier@washingtontimes.com.
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