Russian President Vladimir Putin said he has no substantial relationship with ousted U.S. National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, while speaking with NBC's Megyn Kelly in an interview that was filmed on Friday and will air in full Sunday evening.
"You and I, you and I personally, have a much closer relationship than I had with Mr. Flynn," Putin said in a translated voiceover. In Putin's account of a widely circulated photo of the Russian president eating dinner next to Flynn, the seating arrangement was unexpected. "I got up and left," Putin said. "And then afterwards I was told, 'You know there was an American gentleman. He was involved in some things. He used to be in the security services' ... that's it. I didn't even really talk to him."
Flynn is now subject to a criminal investigation pertaining to his possible communication with Russian officials during and after the 2016 election.
Watch an excerpt of the Kelly interview below. Bonnie Kristian