'Nothing criminal': Putin dismisses Trump's criticism of Biden family business in Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed disagreement with US President Donald Trump’s criticism of Hunter Biden’s past business links with Russia or Ukraine. Speaking to a Russian state TV, Putin said that Hunter’s business in Ukraine doesn’t concern Moscow and he doesn’t see “anything criminal” about him heading a company and making “good money”.

“Yes, in Ukraine he (Hunter Biden) had or maybe still has a business, I don’t know. It doesn’t concern us. It concerns the Americans and the Ukrainians,” said Putin, responding to Trump’s line of attack on his Democratic challenger Joe Biden.

Trump has intensified his attack Joe Biden and his son over the controversial emails related to Burisma, to gain some ground in the upcoming presidential elections. The New York Post,  a conservative-leaning daily tabloid newspaper, had published an article containing two emails purportedly received by Hunter Biden from a top official at Ukrainian energy company Burisma. 

According to the reported email, Burisma board adviser Vadym Pozharskyi asked Hunter to “use [his] influence” to support the Ukrainian company. In another reported email, Pozharskyi thanked Hunter for arranging a meeting with his father. While Trump has used the report to target Biden, no evidence has been verified to support the allegations.

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Russian interference

The US intelligence believes that Russia is using a range of measures to “primarily denigrate” former Vice President Joe Biden and what it sees as an anti-Russia “establishment”, a claim repeatedly denied by Putin. Last month, the US Treasury Department imposed new sanctions on four Russia-linked individuals for “attempting to influence” the US electoral process. 

The department accused Russia of using a variety of proxies to attempt to “sow discord” between political parties and “drive internal divisions” to influence voters, calling it a part of Moscow’s broader efforts to undermine democratic countries and institutions. It said that Russia used a wide range of influence methods and actors to target the American electoral process, including targeting US presidential candidates.

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