Official photos of Oval Office meet leave out Russian ambassador

Donald Trump, Sergey Kislyak, Russian Ambassador
Russian Embassy

Official White House photos posted Thursday of President Trump’s Oval Office meetings the previous day leave out Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak.

The White House’s Flickr shows three images of Trump posing with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Left out of the group of photos is Kislyak, who also attended the Wednesday meeting according to photos released by the Russian Embassy in the United States.

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The White House’s readout of Trump’s meeting with Lavrov did not mention Kislyak. The Russian Embassy released two separate photos of Trump shaking hands with both men.
 
Two additional photos posted on the White House Flickr at the same time were taken during Trump’s meeting with former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, whose meeting with the president was also left off the public schedule for the day.
 
The White House is reportedly furious over photos that were taken during Trump’s huddle with Lavrov and Kislyak.

An administration official told The Washington Post that the White House was misled about the true role of a Russian photographer at the event.

The photographer reportedly worked for Russia’s state-owned news agency Tass but was described as Lavrov’s official photographer.

“We were not informed by the Russians that their official photographer was dual-hatted and would be releasing the photographs on the state news agency,” the administration official said.

Kislyak is at the center of the controversy over possible ties between Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and Russia.

Former national security adviser Michael Flynn resigned in February after reportedly misleading senior administration officials about past talks with Kislyak.

NBC’s Andrea Mitchell first noticed that the White House’s Flicker did not include photos of Kislyak.
Tags Diplomacy Donald Trump foreign affairs Politics Russia Sergey Kislyak Sergey Lavrov White House

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