MOSCOW (Sputnik) — In May 2016, The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump held a meeting with Kislyak at a VIP reception in the US capital. On Tuesday, US media returned to the issue and asked the White House to provide a comment.
"Several ambassadors were present. Mr. Trump was at the reception for about five minutes and then went immediately to the podium. We have no recollection of who he may have shaken hands with at the reception and we were not responsible for inviting or vetting guests. To state they met or that a meeting took place is disingenuous and absurd," Sarah Huckabee Sanders told the Business Insider outlet in an email on Wednesday commenting on the report.
The issue of alleged contacts between the officials of Trump administration and Kislyak came into the limelight in recent months. Earlier in March, US media reported citing unnamed intelligence sources that the diplomat was a "top spy" and "spy-recruiter" due to his alleged proximity to Russia's intelligence. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova refuted the allegations of the US media, saying that as a diplomat Kislyak's work was to make contacts in the host nation.
