FILE PHOTO: Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov listens as Russian presidential candidate and incumbent President Vladimir Putin (not pictured) speaks after polling stations closed, in Moscow, Russia, March 18, 2024. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov/File Photo
MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Kremlin said on Sunday it did not believe the U.S. administration was responsible for Saturday's assassination attempt on U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump, but that it had created an atmosphere that provoked the attack.
Trump was shot in the ear during a rally in Pennsylvania, in an attack now being investigated as an assassination attempt. The attacker was shot dead and law enforcement officials said they had not yet identified a motive.
"We do not believe that the attempt to eliminate and assassinate Trump was organised by the current authorities," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
"But the atmosphere around candidate Trump ... provoked what America is confronting today."
U.S. President Joe Biden condemned the attack, saying there was no place for that kind of violence in America. Peskov said Russia condemned any violence in the course of the political struggle.
His comments echoed those of some of Trump's Republican allies, who immediately pinned the blame on Biden.
"After numerous attempts to remove candidate Trump from the political arena - using first legal tools, the courts, prosecutors, attempts to politically discredit and compromise the candidate - it was obvious to all outside observers that his life was in danger," Peskov said.
He added that there were no plans for Putin to call Trump in light of the incident.
World leaders, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, rapidly condemned Saturday's attack, expressing shock, denouncing political violence and wishing Trump a quick recovery.
Russia's foreign ministry used the shooting to urge Washington to stop funding Ukraine's military and concentrate on improving domestic law enforcement instead.
Foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, writing on Telegram, responded to remarks made by independent presidential candidate Robert Kennedy Jr following the shooting.
"Dear Bobby and all those who vote in the United States to supply Zelenskiy with arms," Zakharova said.
"Wouldn't it be better for this money to finance the American police and other services that are supposed to ensure law and order within the United States?"
Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in 2022 has brought Russia's ties with the West to their lowest ebb since the height of the Cold War.
Asked whether the Trump attack could affect the legitimacy of the United States' upcoming election, Peskov said: "It is not for us to judge. We have not the slightest desire to interfere. This is a U.S. matter."
(Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Alexander Marrow; Editing by Philippa Fletcher)
