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He's been in the headlines for meetings with members of US President Donald Trump's team during last year's presidential campaign.
But what do we actually know about Russian ambassador to the US, Sergey Kislyak?
Key points:
- Sergey Kislyak has been the Russian ambassador to the US since 2008
- He trained as an engineer before going into the public service
- He was the ambassador to Belgium before taking up his US posting
He's been in public office for most of his life
While he trained as an engineer at the Moscow Engineering Physics Institute, he arrived in the US in the early 1980s to work for the Soviet mission at the United Nations in New York, before going on to work at the Russian Embassy in Washington.
He went back to Russia to serve on the foreign ministry before being appointed the Russian ambassador to Belgium under former Russian president Boris Yeltsin. He held the post between 1998 and 2003.
He was appointed by former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev to be the Russian ambassador to the US in 2008, and has been in the job since.
He has denied election hacking
In a speech at Stanford University in November 2016 on the state of US and Russian relations he denied hacking had taken place during the election.
But at that event he did go on to say US and Russian relations were at "the worst point in our relations after the end of the Cold War".
Despite this, he was one of the few Russian officials not to be kicked out of the country during former US president Barack Obama's spree where he expelled dozens of diplomats over Russia's alleged interference with last year's election.
He has a pretty big title, but keeps a low profile
His title may be the "Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary", but the 66-year-old rarely speaks with journalists, keeps a low profile and doesn't have a Twitter account.
In some media reports he has been described as intelligent and a deep advocate for toeing the Kremilin line.
And according to a report from Politico, it seems his taste in vodka is also low-key, with Costco's Kirkland vodka being served at a recent event at the Russian embassy.
He's been accused of being a spy
Last week CNN reported US intelligence believe Mr Kislyak is one of Russia's top spies and spy-recruiters in Washington.
It's a claim Russia's Foreign Ministry has rejected.
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told CNN Mr Kislyak was "a well-known, world-class diplomat."
Who did he speak to in Trump's team and on what issue?
He spoke with Mike Flynn, Mr Trump's national security adviser, in "numerous calls" during the transition period before Mr Trump's inauguration.
According to a report by The New Yorker, Mr Flynn also met with Mr Kislyak at Trump Tower in December alongside Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser. Jared Kushner.
Issues arose this year when it emerged Mr Flynn gave "incomplete information" to Vice-President Mike Pence over their discussions.
Mr Flynn resigned shortly after the story came to light.
This week it also emerged that Mr Kislyak also spoke to Attorney-General Jeff Sessions twice last year when the AG was a senator.
Mr Sessions did not disclose the contact during his confirmation hearing in January when asked specifically whether "anyone affiliated" with the campaign had contact with the Russians.
He has since recused himself from overseeing the investigations into allegations over Russian hacking during the election, but many Democrats have called on the Attorney-General to resign.
But President Donald Trump has backed Mr Sessions to stay in the role.
Topics: world-politics, foreign-affairs, donald-trump, united-states
First posted