Today, the Kremlin expressed displeasure over how Vladimir Putin’s name was used during the U.S. presidential debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, urging both to stop involving him in their political struggle.

Peskov made these statements a week after Putin humorously remarked that he prefers Harris over Trump, prompting the White House to respond by saying that Putin should refrain from commenting on the upcoming November U.S. elections.

Peskov told reporters that while the Kremlin did not directly watch the debate, it was updated by media reports.

“Naturally, we noticed that both candidates mentioned our president and our country. Of course, the position is very clear – the U.S., regardless of the candidate’s party, maintains a negative and unfriendly stance towards our country,” he said.

“Putin’s name is being used as one of the tools in the U.S. domestic political battle. We really don’t like this and hope they will leave our president’s name out of it.”