# Sergey Kislyak Russian Ambassador to the United States (2008–2017). Kislyak is the Russian official most frequently contacted by Trump associates during the 2016 campaign and transition — the common thread connecting the [[Michael Flynn]] sanctions calls, [[Jared Kushner]]'s back-channel proposal, and Attorney General Jeff Sessions' undisclosed contacts. US intelligence officials have described Kislyak as a top Russian spy recruiter, though [[Russia]] denied this characterization. ## The Flynn Calls (December 2016) The most consequential Kislyak contacts were his December 2016 phone calls with incoming National Security Adviser [[Michael Flynn]]: **December 29, 2016**: Hours after the Obama administration announced new sanctions against Russia for election interference, Flynn called Kislyak and asked Russia **not to escalate** — effectively asking Moscow to hold off retaliating until the Trump administration took office. Putin subsequently announced Russia would not retaliate, breaking with his own foreign ministry's recommended response. **December 31, 2016**: Kislyak called Flynn back to confirm Russia had "chosen not to retaliate" in response to Flynn's request. Flynn subsequently lied to the FBI about the substance of these calls, claiming he did not discuss sanctions. This lie led to his guilty plea in November 2017 and became one of the central threads of the [[Mueller Investigation]]. He was pardoned by Trump in November 2020. **[[Sally Yates]] warning**: Acting Attorney General Sally Yates warned the White House on January 26, 2017 that Flynn had misrepresented his Kislyak conversations and was therefore vulnerable to Russian blackmail — they knew he had lied about what was discussed, giving them leverage. [[The White House]] took no action for 18 days, until the Washington Post reported the story. ## The Kushner Back-Channel In December 2016, [[Jared Kushner]] met with Kislyak at Trump Tower and discussed establishing a secret **back-channel communication** between the Trump transition team and the Kremlin, potentially using Russian diplomatic facilities to avoid US intelligence monitoring. Kislyak reportedly was taken aback by the proposal. The idea of an incoming administration seeking to communicate with a foreign power through that power's own secure facilities — specifically to evade surveillance by US intelligence agencies — was described by former intelligence officials as extraordinary and unprecedented. ## The Sessions Contacts Attorney General Jeff Sessions met with Kislyak at least twice during the 2016 campaign — at the Republican National Convention (July 2016) and at Sessions' Senate office (September 2016). Sessions initially failed to disclose these meetings during his Senate confirmation hearing, stating under oath that he "did not have communications with the Russians." When the contacts were revealed, Sessions recused himself from the Russia investigation — a decision that ultimately led to [[Rod Rosenstein]]'s appointment of [[Robert Mueller]], since Sessions could not oversee the investigation. ## Kislyak at the White House In a remarkable scene on May 10, 2017 — the day after firing FBI Director [[James Comey]] — Trump hosted Kislyak and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in the Oval Office. During this meeting, Trump told the Russian officials: "I just fired the head of the FBI. He was crazy, a real nut job... I faced great pressure because of Russia. That's taken off." American press was barred from the meeting; Russian state media (TASS) was allowed in and published photos. ## Significance Kislyak is the single Russian official most directly connected to the greatest number of Trump associates during the campaign and transition. His contacts with Flynn (sanctions), Kushner (back-channel), and Sessions (undisclosed meetings) — each of which involved either lies to investigators or failure to disclose — form a pattern that suggests the Trump team understood these contacts were problematic even as they pursued them. Kislyak's recall to Moscow in mid-2017 coincided with the intensification of the Mueller investigation.