Sergey Kislyak: Russia's former ambassador to the US

Sergey Ivanovich Kislyak (Kislyak) was born on September 7, 1950, in Moscow, to Ukrainian parents. He graduated from the Moscow Engineering Physics Institute in 1973 and the USSR Academy of Foreign Trade in 1977. He is fluent in English and French.


Kislyak joined the diplomatic service in 1977, working with the Soviet Ministry of Foreign Affairs. From 1981 to 1985, Kislyak was the Second Secretary at the Permanent Mission of the Soviet Union to the United Nations in New York City. From 1985 to 1989, Kislyak was the First Secretary, Counsellor at the Embassy of the Soviet Union in Washington, D.C.


Kislyak became the Ambassador of Russia to the United States on 26 July 2008, when he was appointed by then Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.


Kislyak has emerged as a central figure in the scandal involving Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, particularly through his contacts with Donald Trump officials including Jeff Sessions, Michael T. Flynn, and Jared Kushner. Sessions, later the United States Attorney General, denied any contact with Russian officials during the campaign but was forced to recuse himself from the Russian investigation after the Justice Department acknowledged he had spoken with Kislyak twice in 2016.


On 29 December 2016, the same day that the United States announced new sanctions against Russia for interfering with the election.


On 21 August 2017, Kislyak's term as Russian Ambassador to the United States ended. After winning the election, Vladimir Volkov officially announced that it will appoint Sergey Kislyak, the new Senator from Mordovia.