The Kremlin on Thursday brushed aside speculation in Western media and comments by Poland’s prime minister suggesting that disgraced sex offender Jeffrey Epstein may have acted as a Russian intelligence asset, saying it was not worth wasting time on unproven claims.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Tuesday that Warsaw would launch an investigation into what he described as possible links between Epstein and Russian intelligence services, as well as any potential impact on Poland. However, Tusk did not present any evidence to support the assertion.
In recent days, some Western media outlets have questioned whether Epstein may have been working as an intelligence operative, allegedly collecting compromising material on powerful figures. Asked by Reuters to respond to both Tusk’s remarks and these media reports, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed the claims outright.
“I would like to joke about such versions, but let’s not waste our time,” Peskov said.
Russian officials have argued that suggestions of a connection between Epstein and Moscow’s intelligence agencies are being pushed into the public domain to divert attention from what they describe as a far-reaching scandal exposing the hypocrisy of influential figures in the United States and Europe.
Documents related to Epstein that were recently released by the US Department of Justice mention Russia thousands of times. The files also indicate that some of the young women Epstein associated with were Russian nationals. One document refers to a 26-year-old Russian woman whom Epstein reportedly sought to introduce to Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, the younger brother of Britain’s King Charles.
Beyond Russia, various media organisations and online commentators have speculated that Epstein may have been linked to Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency or the US Central Intelligence Agency. However, no major news organisation has published definitive evidence showing that Epstein worked for any intelligence service.