According to a report by Russia’s RIA Novosti on December 11, in 2017, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov outwitted the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), exposing a U.S. spy who had infiltrated the Kremlin.
In 2017, following a meeting between then-U.S. President Donald Trump and Lavrov, Washington ordered the evacuation of one of its key intelligence agents from Russia. It is speculated that Trump let slip during the talks, disclosing certain classified information he had obtained, thereby indicating that a U.S. spy was lurking in the Kremlin. That spy was Oleg Smolenkov, who was dismissed from the Russian Presidential Administration almost immediately after the Trump-Lavrov meeting and subsequently fled Russia with his family. CNN stated that Smolenkov was one of the “most valuable agents” working within Russian power structures.
Andrey Popov, a member of the Veterans Association of Russia’s Alpha Group special forces and a reserve lieutenant colonel of the Federal Security Service (FSB), revealed that it was Lavrov who created corresponding conditions during the talks to make the CIA nervous and prompt it to withdraw the spy voluntarily.
Maria Zakharova, spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry, said that the Russian Foreign Ministry has requested the U.S. side to provide information on Smolenkov’s whereabouts. The individual has been referred to by the media as a CIA informant.
Zakharova emphasized that Russia has sought assistance from Interpol. Smolenkov disappeared from Russia with his family, and Russia has launched an investigation into the case, which remains unsolved to this day.
Interpol, for its part, declined to comment on the Russian Foreign Ministry’s request to investigate Smolenkov’s whereabouts, noting that Interpol only shares information with member states within the framework of bilateral cooperation.
