>
Article snippet: Sergey Kislyak, the Russian ambassador who has been a central figure in the controversies surrounding the Trump campaign's alleged ties to Moscow, is leaving Washington, the Russian embassy said Saturday. "Ambassador S.Kislyak has concluded his assignment in Washington, DC Minister-Counselor D.Gonchar will act as Chargé d'Affaires ad interim," the embassy wrote on Twitter. Kislyak has served as Russia's envoy to the U.S. since 2008, and is a rumored pick for a new position at the United Nations responsible for counterterrorism. For most of his tenure in Washington, Kislyak maintained a relatively low profile. But that changed more recently amid revelations that he met with several members of President Trump's campaign. Those meetings have come to light in the wake of the U.S. intelligence community's conclusion that the Russian government sought to meddle in the 2016 election and swing the presidential race in Trump's favor. Kislyak was first publicly identified as a player in Russia controversy shortly after Trump took office. Reports surfaced that the president's first national security adviser Michael Flynn had multiple contacts with Kislyak during the presidential transition and misled Vice President Pence and other White House officials about the nature of their conversations. Facing mounting questions related to his contacts with Kislyak, Flynn was forced to resign in February, just 24 days after taking office. Weeks after Flynn left the White House, The ... Link to the full article to read more