The US government on Sunday rejected the existence of “Ukrainian involvement” in the armed attack in Moscow after Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested a link with Ukraine.

“There is no evidence” that Ukraine is involved in the massacre that killed at least 137 people, and “Islamic State is responsible,” US Vice President Kamala Harris stressed in a television interview on Sunday, AFP reports.

The Islamic State jihadist group bears full responsibility for this attack. There was no participation of Ukraine,” the spokeswoman of the US National Security Council, Adrienne Watson, insisted in a statement.

The Islamic State, against which Russia is fighting in Syria and which is also active in the Russian Caucasus, has carried out a series of attacks on Russian territory since the late 2010s, but has never claimed actions of this scale, AFP notes.

After the attack, the jihadist group said on one of its Telegram accounts that the attack was carried out by four of its members and that it took place “in the context of (…) a war” between the organization and “countries fighting against Islam”.

On Saturday, Vladimir Putin vowed to “punish” all those responsible for the attack, saying the attackers were arrested en route to Ukraine, without mentioning jihadist claims.

• Stay tuned for the latest information on the terrorist attack in Moscow

The Americans warned him, Putin replied that it was blackmail

​The United States warned Russia this month of a terrorist attack that could target “large gatherings” in Moscow, the White House said.

“Earlier this month, the U.S. government had information about a planned terrorist attack in Moscow that could target large gatherings of people, including concerts, and Washington shared that information with Russian authorities,” said Adrienne Watson, spokeswoman for the U.S. National Security Council.

Vladimir Putin dismissed US warnings of a possible terrorist incident in Moscow days before Friday night’s attack.

The President of Russia said on Tuesday, March 19, that “recent provocative statements by some Western official structures regarding the possibility of terrorist attacks in Russia” are aimed at harming Russian society.

“All this looks like pure blackmail and an intention to intimidate and destabilize our society,” Putin said, according to state media.

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