Former Russian Ambassador: There Were 'No Secrets' in Talks With Flynn

The former Russian ambassador to the U.S., Sergey Kislyak, said that he did not discuss U.S. sanctions with former White House National Security Advisor Michael Flynn, and that their conversations were about "very simple things."

"The communication was very regardful. There were no secrets, at least from our side," Kislyak told the Russian TV channel Rossiya 24, according to a translation by Russia's government-funded Sputnik News.

Kislyak said he had been instructed not to discuss the sanctions with anyone and followed those instructions to the letter. Instead, Kislyak said he and Flynn talked about U.S.-Russian cooperation on other issues, including counter-terrorism, Sputnik reported.

Kislyak's insistence that sanctions were not discussed is contradicted by reporting from American news outlets, first in The Washington Post in February, and subsequent statements from U.S. officials. The Post reported that Flynn and Kislyak discussed sanctions during the month before President Donald J. Trump took office. Flynn and the White House initially denied the report, but Flynn was fired days later for allegedly lying to Vice President Mike Pence about the content of the conversations.

Primary Source: Kislyak's Interview on Rossiya 24 (in Russian)

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