Clinton Russia Ties? Trump Campaign Not The Only One Who Met Kremlin Ambassador

President Donald Trump’s administration has faced sharp criticism over its alleged ties with Russia but the Russian president’s spokesman said Sunday that Trump’s campaign was not the only one who met with Russian ambassador, shedding light on meetings between Kremlin’s ambassador Sergey Kislyak and the Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s campaign.

“Well, if you look at some people connected with Hillary Clinton during her campaign, you would probably see that he had lots of meetings of that kind,” Dmitry Peskov said in an interview with CNN “GPS” host Fareed Zakaria on Sunday. “There are lots of specialists in politology, people working in think tanks advising Hillary or advising people working for Hillary.”

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Peskov maintained that Russia had no role to play in influencing the presidential elections, contrary to reports by U.S. intelligence agencies. He said it was a part of Kislyak’s duty to interact with both campaigns to discuss “bilateral relations.”

“This is his job. He was talking about bilateral relations. He was talking about what is going on in the United States so we have a better understanding in Moscow,” Peskov said. “This is what is being performed by every ambassador of Russia abroad, every ambassador of the United States abroad, including in Moscow.”

Peskov said the Russian President Vladimir Putin never vocally supported any candidate but added that he would have preferred Trump over Clinton as the former was more open to friendly relations with the Kremlin.

“The candidate Hillary Clinton was quite negative about our country in her attitude and in her program, declaring Russia being nearly the main evil in the world and the main threat for the United States,” Peskov explained.

The Trump administration’s alleged relations with Russia have been a cause of concern for many in the country. Michael Flynn resigned as national security director in February after it emerged that he did not reveal the fact that he met with Kislyak during the election. Soon after, Attorney General Jeff Sessions was embroiled in similar controversy after it emerged that he lied about his interactions with Kislyak during the presidential campaign.