Trump met with Russian ambassador before vote: Report

Donald Trump had a meeting with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak during the heat of the presidential race, a report has revealed, stoking more controversy about the new American president’s alleged ties to Russia.

Trump and Kislyak briefly met at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington on April 2, 2016, six months before election day, the AmericaBlog reported on Tuesday, citing a report by The Wall Street Journal from May of last year.

According to the report, Trump “warmly” greeted the Russian envoy at a VIP reception, which was attended by three other foreign ambassadors.

In reaction to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s praise of Trump, the then-presidential hopeful told Kislyak that the Russian head of state was “very bright” and a “strong leader.”

Photos from that day appear to prove that Kislyak was present at Trump’s speech, seating in front row.

“I believe an easing of tensions and improved relations with Russia, from a position of strength, is possible. Common sense says this cycle of hostility must end,” Trump said at the event.

After the speech, Kislyak told Politico that Trump’s points were “intriguing, but we need to understand what is meant in the implementation.”

This is while Trump and his team have constantly denied meeting with Russian officials during the presidential campaign. Such relations would amount to a breach of laws that prohibit citizens from engaging in matters that concern foreign policy.

Over the past weeks, the Trump White House has been busy containing the fallout from his cabinet members’ conversations with Russian officials.

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US Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who was a Trump surrogate during the race, has been accused of not disclosing his meetings with Kislyak last year.

Mike Flynn, Trump’s former national security adviser, was fired last month for misleading Vice President Mike Pence about his meetings with the Russian envoy.

Before the election, Trump’s Democratic rival, former secretary of state Hillary Clinton, accused Trump of having ties with Russia and said Moscow was carrying out hacking attacks against her party in order to influence the outcome of the vote.

Then-president Barack Obama and the American intelligence community also backed up the claims.

Trump and his team have  denied ties to Russia over 20 times. The Republican has gone as far as accusing his Democratic predecessor Barack Obama of wiretapping his campaign.

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