Kelly Calls Maintaining Communication Channels With Russia 'a Good Thing'

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — US Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly considers that maintaining any communication channels with Russia is "a good thing."

"Any way that you can communicate with people, particularly organizations that are maybe not particularly friendly to us is a good thing… I would just say that any line of communication to a country, particularly a country like Russia, is a good thing," Kelly said in an interview with ABC News, published on Sunday.

On Friday, The Washington Post reported citing alleged intercepts of Russian communications reviewed by US officials that US President Donald Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner suggested to Russian Ambassador to the United States Sergei Kislyak using Russian diplomatic facilities to shield the talks ahead of Trump's inauguration from being monitored. The alleged meeting between Kislyak, Kushner and former US presidential National Security Adviser Michael Flynn reportedly took place in New York City in December 2016.

"Well, again, don't know all — I don't know if all of that is true," Kelly said, commenting on this information.

The United States has repeatedly accused Russia of meddling in the US presidential campaign, including alleged hacking attempts. The investigation into alleged Russian interference began at the request of the former administration over suspicion that Moscow may have helped sway the election in favor of Trump.

Russian officials, including President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, have repeatedly said that Russia had not interfered in the internal affairs of foreign states.

 

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