Meeting Not Listed on President’s Official Schedule
In what would generally be considered an ordinary event, the White House has instead tried to hide a meeting Friday between Russia’s new Ambassador to the United States, Anatoly Antonov, and President Donald Trump.Â
The meeting was not listed on the president’s official schedule, but Russian media reported the event, as Reuters now reports.
“Russia’s newly installed ambassador to Washington said on Friday that he had a warm and constructive meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump, Russian news agencies reported.”
“I was received by President Trump, I presented my credentials. For my part I said that we are looking forward to an improvement in the relations between our two countries,†Tass news agency quoted the ambassador, Anatoly Antonov, as saying.Â
“President Trump received me in a warm and friendly way … The atmosphere was very genial, constructive and welcoming. At least, that was my personal feeling,†Russia’s RIA news agency quoted Antonov as saying.
Among the Russian news agencies that reported the meeting are TASS and Sputnik.
Two-and-a-half hours after the Reuters report was published, the White House released a list of eleven foreign ambassadors who presented their credentials to the President today.Â
Why the event, which could not have been arranged at the last minute, was not on the president’s schedule is not known, nor is it known why once again, the U.S. media was not notified of the event.
Back in May, Trump secretly met with then-Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak and Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov, in the Oval Office. And once again, U.S. media was not told. Russian media was not only informed, but had a cameraman in the Oval Office, much to the chagrin of national security experts.
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