Russians release photos of Trump meeting with ambassador, foreign minister in Oval Office

The Twitter account of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs posted a photo of Trump shaking hands with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. The account of the Russian embassy posted a photo of Trump with Ambassador Sergei Kislyak.

Trump’s public schedule said the president would meet with Lavrov in the Oval Office at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday.

Reporters were ushered into the Oval Office afterwards to see Trump not with the Russians, but with former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.

Trump said he met with Kissinger to talk “about Russia and various other matters.”

“We’re talking about Syria and I think that we’re going to do very well with respect to Syria and things are happening that are really, really, really positive,” Trump said. “We’re going to stop the killing and the death.”

Asked if his firing of FBI Director James Comey on Wednesday affected his meetings with the Russians today, Trump replied: “Not at all.”

The president said he had a “very, very good meeting” with Lavrov.

Trump said both countries want to stop “the killing — the horrible, horrible killing in Syria as soon as possible and everybody is working toward that end.”

The White House said in a later statement that Trump “emphasized the need to work together to end the conflict in Syria, in particular, underscoring the need for Russia to rein in the Assad regime, Iran, and Iranian proxies.”

“The president raised Ukraine, and expressed his Administration’s commitment to remain engaged in resolving the conflict and stressed Russia’s responsibility to fully implement the Minsk agreements,” the statement said. He also raised the possibility of broader cooperation on resolving conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere. The president further emphasized his desire to build a better relationship between the United States and Russia.”