Who is Sergey Kislyak, and how did he become the hottest meeting ticket in Washington?

Who is Sergey Kislyak, and how did he become the hottest meeting ticket in Washington?
Laura King and Mansur Mirovalev


His diplomatic career has encompassed the Cold War, the collapse of the Soviet Union and the inexorable-seeming rise of one Vladimir Putin. Now Sergey Kislyak, the Russian ambassador to the United States, finds himself in a harsh and unwanted spotlight over contacts with Donald Trump’s campaign team.

After nearly a decade as Moscow’s man in Washington, the portly, bespectacled envoy is a well-known commodity in diplomatic circles. Though said to prefer behind-the-scenes parley, he plays an occasional role as Russia’s public face at events such as policy forums and academic symposia across the United States.

Kislyak, 66, is also the Russian president’s eyes and ears — a role that likely took him last April to a front-row seat in a ballroom at Washington’s ornate Mayflower Hotel, where an upstart presidential aspirant named Donald Trump took to the lectern to deliver his first major foreign policy speech.

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http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-fg-russian-kislyak-profile-20170302-story.html