Kremlin sceptical about US probe into Russian athletes' doping abuse

Moscow, May 18

The Kremlin perceives with scepticism a statement by the US Department of Justice to investigate alleged doping abuse by Russian athletes during the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday.

‘We treat with notable scepticism and a notable degree of misunderstanding and rejection the cases of the ex-territorial application of the jurisdiction of US courts that have become quite widespread lately," Peskov said, reports TASS.

The Kremlin spokesman said at the same time that the investigation mentioned episodes that were linked with the United States and the competitions held on the US territory.

The Kremlin spokesman confirmed Russia’s position that the Russian authorities had stated their readiness to cooperate in the investigation of such episodes.

"I suggest we should take guidance from a statement by Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko and we fully support this position about openness for the investigation and the intention to fight doping abuse but fight in a personified manner so that such probes or investigative measures do not cast a shadow on our champions who take part in honest competitions," Peskov added.

The New York Times earlier reported that the US Department of Justice had opened a criminal probe into Russian officials’ assistance to the doping abuse by Russia’s athletes.

The US newspaper claimed that the US federal authorities had the right to institute proceedings against foreigners if an offence had some relation to the United States and, as The New York Times noted, leading Russian athletes had taken part in a number of large sports competitions in the United States.