On Wednesday, President Trump held a long-scheduled meeting at the White House with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
It was Lavrov’s first visit to Washington since 2013, and his first documented in-person meeting with Trump.
According to a readout released by the White House, the two talked about the ongoing conflicts in Syria and Ukraine; Trump also asked Russia to “rein in” Iran and its “proxies” in the Middle East.
Also in attendance: Sergey Kislyak, the Russian Federation’s ambassador to the United States, and an assortment of gray-haired apparatchiks.
You know: Kislyak, who popped up at various times in 2016 in the company of now-Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who earlier this week recommended that Trump fire James Comey as director of the FBI.
The White House’s readout did not say if Trump and Lavrov discussed the upheaval at the top of the United States’ internal-security bureau, though earlier in the day, Lavrov laughed off a reporter’s question about Comey’s dismissal before heading into a meeting with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.
Thing is, we just don’t know much else about Trump and Lavrov’s meeting. Although the White House’s daily pool reporters and photographers usually get a quick “spray” when the President meets with a foreign leader or diplomat, today’s summit was closed press.
The White House didn’t release any official photos either. All these images were taken by a photographer with TASS, one of Russia’s state-run media organizations, and released on Flickr by the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Trump Administration’s staff photographer did get a few shots, according to a brief pool report, though they haven’t surfaced yet.
Staff Writer
Benjamin Freed joined Washingtonian in August 2013 and covers politics, business, and media. He was previously the editor of DCist and has also written for Washington City Paper, the New York Times, the New Republic, Slate, and BuzzFeed. He lives in Adams Morgan.
