Kremlin sees use of Russian factor in EU referendum campaign in UK as new phenomenon
MOSCOW. May 18 (Interfax) - The use of the Russian factor in the ongoing EU membership referendum campaign in the United Kingdom is a new phenomenon, as this earlier happened only in the United States, says Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov.
"We are already used to the Russian factor being among the fixtures in U.S. election campaigns, but the use of the Russian factor or the President Putin factor in the Brexit context seems a new element and a new phenomenon to us," Peskov told journalists on Wednesday in commenting on British Prime Minister David Cameron's words that "Putin might be happy" if the United Kingdom left the EU.
Peskov recalled Putin's words that Moscow is interested in "building good, partner-like, and mutually beneficial relations with both the EU countries on the whole and with its individual members."