It was all smiles Wednesday when President Trump welcomed Russia’s foreign minister and ambassador to the United States to the White House.
Of course, we only know that thanks to photos from Russia’s state news agency. Its photographer was the only one allowed in the meeting, while U.S. journalists were kept out.
That’s right. Although the encounter between Trump, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, and Ambassador Sergey Kislyak took place in the center of American power, it was Tass, the official Russian news agency, that had the pictures.
According to Andrei Sitov, the Tass bureau chief in Washington, the Russian photographer who took the photos covers Lavrov full time and came with him on the plane. He was presented to the White House as the official photographer.
It was a curious choice for a meeting that took place less than a day after Trump fired FBI Director James B. Comey, who was leading the investigation into the Trump campaign’s ties to Russian officials.
Questions about whether Trump fired Comey because of that investigation have swirled since the firing was announced on Tuesday evening.
Lavrov arrived in Washington on Tuesday and met with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Wednesday morning. As he was entering the State Department, a reporter asked whether the dismissal of Comey “cast a shadow” over Wednesday’s meetings. Lavrov joked the question away. “Was he fired?” he sarcastically asked. “You are kidding. You are kidding.”
After the news conference, Trump met face-to-face with Lavrov. The Russian Foreign Ministry was quick to capitalize on the moment, tweeting one of the first photos of the two men shaking hands.
Also in attendance was Kislyak, Russia’s ambassador to the United States. Kislyak’s presence was surprising — he’s a key figure in the investigation of the Trump administration’s ties to Russia.
Trump’s national security adviser, Michael Flynn, was fired after it came out that he’d met with Kislyak on several occasions but hadn’t disclosed the meetings. Attorney General Jeff Sessions also recused himself from anything related to the Russia investigation after it emerged that he, as a U.S. senator, had met twice with Kislyak in July and September, interactions he did not disclose when questioned at his Senate confirmation hearing this year for the attorney general position.
Trump described Wednesday’s meeting with Lavrov and Kislyak as “very, very good,” observing that both the United States and Russia want to stop “the horrible, horrible killing in Syria as soon as possible.”
As the meeting concluded, the wire service Getty released photos credited to Tass showing all three men standing together in a chummy moment.
Matt Novak from Gizmodo tweeted the photos ….
Click here to continue reading…
SOURCE: Julie Vitkovskaya and Amanda Erickson
The Washington Post
BCNN1 WP 