The American court rejected Deripaska's claim to Associated Press

The District Court in Washington rejected the lawsuit of businessman Oleg Deripaska to slander the Associated Press information agency, reports Politico. The Russian businessman disputed the publications about his connections with Paul Manafort, the ex-head of the campaign headquarters of Donald Trump.

The court decision emphasizes that Deripaska "does not dispute any significant facts" set forth in the publications of AP, as this "applies to the biography of the billionaire and its role in promoting Russian interests at the international level." According to the judge, "there is no doubt in the existence of a public discussion about Russian oligarchs affecting the Russian government."

"Deripaska is not used to covering his role in the news as a Russian oligarch and one of Putin's proxies," the court concludes.

The businessman stated that AP distorted the facts related to his participation in Ukrainian politics in 2005, when Deripaska met Manafort. As the court notes, the oligarch did not prove that the agency deliberately misled the readers.

Deripaska filed a lawsuit against AP in mid -May. Claims arose to the article published in March, which stated that Manafort worked for Deripaska, promoting the interests of the Kremlin . It was claimed that in June 2005 the political strategist proposed assisting in influencing politics, business and coverage of events in the USA, Europe and post-Soviet countries. The contract acted at least from 2006 to 2009. The annual payment for it was $ 10 million. The agency noted that this fact "contradicts the statements of the Trump administration and Manafort itself, that he never worked in the interests of Russia."