Moscow, Mar 18 (IANS): The Kremlin said on Wednesday that claims of Russia's alleged meddling in the 2020 US elections are baseless and regretful, calling them just another pretext for additional sanctions.

"We consider this report to be wrong ... it is absolutely baseless and unsubstantiated," a media report said, quoting Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

"Russia had nothing to do with any sort of campaigns against any of the candidates," the spokesman added.

In an interview with RIA Novosti on Wednesday, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said that such US behaviour "has become the norm," adding that this proves the country's "manic" commitment to its sanctions policy, the Xinhua news agency reported.

The US released an intelligence report on Tuesday that revealed Russia had allegedly "denigrated" President Joe Biden's candidacy at the 2020 US elections to increase support for former President Donald Trump, "undermine" public confidence in the electoral process, and increase polarisation within the country.