Dick Cheney: Russian interference in US election may be 'an act of war'

Former Vice President Dick Cheney described Russia's meddling in the 2016 presidential election as "an act of war."

Cheney gave a speech Monday at Economic Times' Global Business Summit, where he discussed "the rising number of threats" facing the world, reported Business Insider.

The former vice president said some of those threats -- and Russian President Vladimir Putin -- threatened "globalization movements."

"Not long ago, Gorbachev was in power and the Soviets went out of business ... but the situation has changed dramatically under Putin," he said. "I think he has designs on the Baltics ... We know he wanted Crimea — he took it."

Cheney said Putin had interfered with the U.S. election as part of his worldwide destabilization efforts.

"There's no question that there was a very serious effort made by Mr. Putin and his government, his organization, to interfere in major ways with our basic fundamental democratic processes," Cheney said. "In some quarters, that could be considered an act of war."

Cheney took what appeared to be a shot at President Donald Trump and his Republican congressional allies, who have disputed the intelligence showing Russian efforts to influence the election.

"I would not underestimate the weight that we as Americans assign to Russian attempts to interfere with our process," Cheney said.