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President Trump told Russia’s foreign minister that Moscow’s meddling in America’s elections was unacceptable, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Wednesday — contradicting the diplomat’s assertion that the two never discussed the issue.

Trump on Tuesday met with Sergei Lavrov at the White House, which later issued a readout that said Trump had warned the diplomat against meddling in the 2020 elections as Russia did in the 2016 election and 2020 midterms, according to US intelligence officials.

But Lavrov, when told about the White House statement, said: “You know, we haven’t even actually discussed elections.”

Pompeo disputed Lavrov’s version of the talk on Wednesday and said such a warning was delivered in every meeting he has been in on Tuesday and that he has attended three.

“I can tell you that Foreign Minister Lavrov’s statement is not accurately a reflection of my recollection of that meeting. And there is no mistake that President Trump made clear in the meeting that he had with Lavrov … that President Trump personally, and America, finds their meddling in our elections unacceptable,” Pompeo said.

Lavrov at the White House vehemently denied the intelligence community’s unanimous conclusion that Moscow meddled in the 2016 election to help Trump and harm Hillary Clinton.

Pompeo disputed his account, saying the US knew what had happened.

Lavrov also pushed the theory that it was Ukraine and not Russia that meddled in the election.

“The elections of 2016 has nothing to do with us, that is an issue between two sovereign states. But it shows the extent of the absurdity about the accusations about us and Russian intervention,” Lavrov said during a press briefing with Pompeo, referring to Ukraine.

“We think we’ve shared plenty of facts to show what happened in the 2016 election with our Russian counterparts. We don’t think there’s any mistake about what really transpired there,” Pompeo replied.

With Reuters

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