While not unprecedented, it is a rare privilege for a foreign minister to be received by a US president for a bilateral meeting in the White House.
Kislyak is the same person who a string of Trump aides were said to have had contact with and eventually got themselves into trouble - most importantly Flynn, who no longer has a job in the White House because of them.
Security experts brought up the problems with allowing Russian photographers into the White House, especially given the accusations that Russian officials interfered in the USA presidential election and colluded with the Trump campaign, not to mention the fact that the Trump administration has reportedly been lax on security protocols in the past.
As far as the day's discussions are concerned, the White House and the State Department put out terse statements, and gave no briefing, leaving it once again to the Russians to frame the presentation.
The meeting came amid tensions between the US and Russian Federation as the two countries hold differences on a slew of issues, including the Syrian conflict, the Ukrainian crisis and the expansion of North Atlantic Treaty Organisation. In March, Politico called him "Washington's most unsafe diplomat".
The Post noted that among the critics are former deputy Central Intelligence Agency director David S. Cohen, who condemned the decision on Twitter.
Reasons to Believe: Western Conference final
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President Donald Trump and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met at the White House Wednesday morning, on a day when Russias alleged interference in the presidential election had reentered the spotlight. Russian President Vladimir Putin requested during a recent phone conversation that Trump meet with Lavrov, the official said.
The White House played down the danger, saying that the photographer and his equipment were subjected to a security screening before he and it entered the White House grounds.
But their meeting was impossible to separate from the Trump administration's unfolding political drama in Washington, where FBI and congressional investigations are looking into possible collusion between Trump campaign associates and the Kremlin related to the 2016 election. "They tricked us", an official said of Russians "They lie". He also said the subject never came up during his Oval Office meeting.
According to The Washington Post, Russian officials described Shcherbak as Lavrov's official photographer without disclosing that he also worked for TASS.
Reporters were allowed in after and found Trump meeting with Henry Kissinger, who served as secretary of state under President Richard Nixon-a man to whom Trump has been gratuitously compared.
US intelligence agencies have concluded that Russian Federation tried to affect the outcome of the 2016 election. Fourth from right is Russian Ambassador to the U.S. Sergei Kislyak.
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