Putin says Russia not involved in hacker attacks on state level

ST. PETERSBURG, Jun 1 (PRIME) -- Hackers can be everywhere but Russia is not involved in their activities on the state level, President Vladimir Putin said at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum on Thursday.

“Sure, the general background of state relations is important in this case as well because hackers are free people, as artists: when they are in a good mood they wake up and paint. Hackers do the same: they wake up, read that something has happened in state relations, if they are in a patriotic spirit, they start to contribute to what they think is right in the fight against those who speak badly about Russia,” Putin said.

“But we never do this on the state level, this is the most important thing, this is the main point,” Putin said. “The opposite: we are trying to fight that.”

He said he believes that no hackers have the power to influence the results of an electoral campaign significantly.

Anti-Russian moods are abundant in some countries because a multipolar world is setting in, which is not accepted by some monopolists, he said.

“It is evident. It is gushing out from certain states. What is this all about? I think, this is because a multipolar world is setting in. And monopolists do not like that,” Putin said.

He said that the U.S. missile shield system continues advancing despite an agreement signed earlier with Iran. “When we were talking about the missile shield system of the U.S. in Europe, we were always told, and referred to Iran that this was made in order to axe the Iranian nuclear program and a threat from Iran.”

The current missile shield situation is triggering another wave of the arms race, Putin said.

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