“I just fired the head of the F.B.I. He was crazy, a real nut job,\u201d Mr. Trump said, according to the document, which was read to The New York Times by an American official. \u201cI faced great pressure because of Russia. That\u2019s taken off.\u201dMr. Trump added, \u201cI\u2019m not under investigation.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Predictably, the alleged exchange was the only thing on the media’s mind during Lavrov’ spress conference on Saturday, in which the Russian Foreign Minister refuted claims that he had discussed the firing of the former FBI director Comey with President Trump.<\/p>\n
“We did not touch on that topic at all,” Lavrov told reporters on Saturday according to Russia’s RIA press agency.<\/p>\n
Which in retrospect appears strange since not even the White House disputed the NYT’s version of events, and instead WH press secretary Sean Spicer simply doubled down the attack on Comey saying that “by grandstanding and politicizing the investigation into Russia\u2019s actions, James Comey created unnecessary pressure on our ability to engage and negotiate with Russia.”<\/p>\n
Furthermore, Lavrov’s denial did not prevent the Russian Foreign Minister to have some amusement at Trump’s expense, when in a recent meeting Cyrpus with the Secretary General of the Council of Europe Thorbjorn Jagland, Lavrov said:<\/p>\n
Thorbjorn Jagland: <\/strong>These pictures (protocol photoshoot) won\u2019t cause any problems for you?
\nSergey Lavrov: <\/strong>It depends on what kind of secrets you pass on to me
\n[Laughter in the room]<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n