Lavrov Compares Scandals Around Russia's US Envoy to Witch Hunt and McCarthyism

© Sputnik / Natalia Seliverstova / Go to the mediabankThe Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Smolenskaya-Sennaya Square in Moscow.
The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Smolenskaya-Sennaya Square in Moscow. - Sputnik International
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The scandal surrounding Russian Ambassador to US Sergei Kislyak's contacts with the US administration officials during the presidential campaign looks like a witch hunt, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Friday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The Washington Post reported Wednesday that US Attorney General Jeff Sessions spoke to Kislyak twice last year while he was a US senator and part of President Donald Trump's campaign. He denied any contacts with the Russians at his confirmation hearing in January.

"I cannot not refer to a quote spread in the media today: all this looks very much like a witch hunt. Or the days of McCarthyism, which we long thought have passed in the US as a civilized country," Lavrov said at a press conference with his Salvadoran counterpart.

Sessions said in a press conference Thursday that he discussed no details of President Donald Trump's campaign with Kislyak during their two meetings.

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In February, US National Security Adviser Michael Flynn resigned amid media questioning his alleged ties to Kislyak, with whom he was purported to have discussed sanctions against Russia, a claim that Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov denied on Tuesday.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on March 2 that Moscow does not know of any meetings between Sessions and Kislyak and does not wish to interfere in the "emotionally-charged" scandal.

The CNN broadcaster cited anonymous US government officials as saying earlier Thursday that US intelligence views Kislyak as a "top spy" and "spy-recruiter." The Kremlin called for ignoring such allegations.

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