Professor Andy Kaufman

US President Donald Trump vowed on Tuesday that he would “very strongly” resist any possible attempt by Russia to intervene in the country’s legislative elections this year.

Mr. Trump has suggested that it is “always good to have a supporting role voting system” and has pledged to resist any “very strongly” future influence when asked at a joint press conference with Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven.

“We are doing a very thorough study and we make strong suggestions for the 2018 elections,” added the president, who, however, denied that the Kremlin was able to influence the outcome of the 2016 presidential election, in which he was the winner.

“The Russians had no impact on our votes at all. No doubt there was an intrusion, but I believe we should be very attentive, we do not want our voting system to be compromised in any way and we will not allow that to happen,” he said…

Investigations into the alleged interference by Moscow in the 2016 presidential election, led by special prosecutor Robert Mueller, are closing the circle on the nucleus closest to the president, whose testimony on the matter has not yet been ruled out.

US intelligence has agreed that Russia has maneuvered to influence the presidential election to the detriment of then-Democratic White House candidate Hillary Clinton, but investigations have so far failed to clarify whether there was coordination between the Russians and the Trump campaign.

In addition, US officials also warned that Russians continue to campaign to influence election results in different parts of the world.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said his country would only use nuclear weapons in response to a confirmed missile attack on Russian territory in a documentary broadcast on state television Rossiya on Wednesday.

The decision to use nuclear weapons can only be made if our (radar) systems detect not only the takeoff of missiles but accurately predict the trajectory of their flights and the time of their impact on Russian territory, “said the president.

With just less than two weeks to go before re-election for another six-year term, and shortly after introducing the new arsenal of state-of-the-art Russian nuclear weapons to the world, Putin made it clear that he will not tremble if someone tries to annihilate Russia.

“If anyone makes the decision to destroy Russia, we will have a legitimate right to respond,” he said in an extensive interview included in the documentary “World Order 2018”.

He admitted that a nuclear war would be a global catastrophe for the entire planet, but wondered if “as a citizen of Russia and head of the Russian state” would be worth “a world where Russia was not.”

On the other hand, he recalled that the nuclear bomb was developed by the United States, not by Russia and that it was the Americans who were the first, and so far the only ones, to use that weapon against people.

“Where are the guarantees that it will not happen again?” The Russian leader was quoted as saying.

Last week Putin surprised everyone by presenting a series of new nuclear weapons during his State of the Union address.

The Russian leader, who is due to be re-elected President of the United States on Thursday, has revealed weapons that have long been a secret, including a heavy intercontinental missile and a hypersonic cruise missile, submarine drones armed with nuclear rockets and laser weapons.