Thomas Peter/Reuters
Sergey Kislyak, the Russian ambassador to the United States, once denied meeting President Trump or his campaign officials during the 2016 election, CNN reported on Thursday. After an October 2016 speech to the Detroit Economic Club, Kislyak was asked whether he’d met with either political campaigns. His response: “What do you call campaign? I was invited for example to both conventions. I was, uh, the first, that was the Republican convention, but then unexpectedly while being there, I was called back to Moscow for reason that has nothing to do with the elections. So I wasn't there, but we had invitations to both.” Asked if he met Trump or campaign officials at the RNC, Kislyak said: “No, but we met those people who came to see all the ambassadors who were sitting in a special lounge there specifically reserved for the diplomatic corp. and I was among those who were there talking to members of the Congress, to all the peoples who cared to come to us and talk to us.”