Allegations of Russian meddling in elections in the United States and Europe are "fantasies", Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says.
"Without a single piece of proof, we are as you know being accused of meddling not only in the US election, but also in those in European states," the Interfax news agency quoted Lavrov as telling a briefing at the Association of European Businesses in Russia on Tuesday.
"Recently, there was an allegation that Moscow decided what minister to appoint in South Africa. In general, there is no limit to fantasy."
He added that the US has been using a "pretext of a fight against a Russian threat in Washington" to muscle out Russian business interests in Europe.
His comments come a day after a Washington probe into possible Russian interference accelerated with charges against three former aides to Donald Trump's presidential campaign.
Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and his business associate Richard Gates were charged with conspiracy and money laundering related to lobbying work for a pro-Russian political party in Ukraine.
A former foreign policy adviser for Trump's campaign, George Papadopoulos, pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his contacts with Russia.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said later that "so far Russia doesn't figure in any way in these charges which have been made".
Peskov added that accusations of Russian meddling in the election were "unfounded," and "we are observing (the situation) with interest."
He also says connections between Papadopoulos and a man he believed to have links to the Russian Foreign Ministry did not prove any complicity by the Russian government.
Russia has repeatedly denied any attempt to influence the 2016 election.
