Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is heading to Germany this week on his first trip abroad as America's top diplomat, the State Department said on Tuesday, and while he's there he plans to meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

The first meeting between the two, which is expected to take place on Thursday, comes in the wake of reports that President Donald Trump's aides have links with Russia.

A report on Tuesday alleged that aides were in contact with Russian intelligence officials during the year leading up to the presidential election.

The Kremlin said on Wednesday, however, that the report was not based on any facts.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Thursday in Germany

The meeting between Tillerson and Lavrov (pictured) comes in the wake of reports that President Donald Trump's aides have links with Russia

The New York Times claims call records and intercepted conversations show: 'members of Donald J. Trump's 2016 presidential campaign and other Trump associates had repeated contacts with senior Russian intelligence officials in the year before the election.'

The Times said its allegations are based off interviews it has carried out with four 'current and former American officials'.

It claims US intelligence was worried because the alleged contact was taking place as then-candidate Trump continued to praise Russian President Vladimir Putin on the campaign trail.

The alleged contact was uncovered by US intelligence agencies that were working at the time to figure out if the president's campaign team was working with Russia in regards to the hacking of the Democratic National Committee or other attempts to influence the election.

The newspaper goes on to point out that the US officials who spoke of the contact between Trump's team and Russia said there is currently no evidence of any such cooperation.

'Let's not believe anonymous information,' Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a conference call with reporters about the report, noting that the newspaper's sources were unnamed.

'It's a newspaper report which is not based on any facts.'

A report on Tuesday alleged that aides were in contact with Russian intelligence officials during the year leading up to the presidential election

The Kremlin (Russian President Vladimir Puntil pictured above) said on Wednesday that the report was not based on any facts. Tillerson's meeting with Lavrov will give the Kremlin a chance to grasp what Washington, DC, is now thinking and where this may lead

Peskov, responding to a White House statement saying Trump expected Russia to return Crimea to Ukraine, also said the Kremlin had no intention of discussing its territorial integrity with foreign partners.

CNN reports senior US intelligence officers said President Barack Obama and then-president elect Trump: 'were both briefed on details of the extensive communications between suspected Russian operatives and people associated with the Trump campaign and the Trump business'.

WHAT ARE THE LATEST RUSSIAN REPORTS? High-level staffers on Trump's team and some aides were in 'constant communication' with Russian intelligence during the campaign One person has been named - former campaign chairman Paul Manafort President-elect Trump and President Obama were briefed on the contact Communication 'raised a red flag' - especially because Trump often spoke highly of Putin in public Communications were uncovered in call records and intercepted conversations Russian officials spoke about having 'special access to Trump' Information was found during 'routine US intelligence collection' - and not because Trump's team was targeted The FBI and intelligence officials are still trying to figure out why the communication was taking place Advertisement

The news network went on to report intercepted communications between Russian officials found they were discussing the belief they had 'special access to Trump', according to law enforcement sources.

Officials who spoke to the Times on the condition of anonymity, due to the fact the investigation is ongoing, said Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort was one of the people who was in contact with Russian intelligence.

However, Manafort - who worked as a political consultant in Russia and the Ukraine in the past - denied the allegation put to him by the Times.

Trump's people have routinely denied any contact, like what is being alleged by the Times and CNN, including Kellyanne Conway.

Conway dismissed a question about contact in December, and said Trump had told her personally there was none.

'Absolutely not. And I discussed that with the president-elect just last night,' she told CBS News.

'Those conversations never happened. I hear people saying it like it's a fact on television. That is just not only inaccurate and false, but it's dangerous.'

The alleged contact comes after Sergei A Ryabkov, Russia's deputy foreign minister, was quoted just days after the election as having said: 'There were contacts... We continue to do this and have been doing this work during the election campaign.

'Obviously, we know most of the people from his entourage.'

The bombshell report in the New York Times was published just hours after it was revealed Trump demanded his national security adviser's resignation last night after concluding that an 'eroding level of trust' had made it impossible to leave him in the sensitive position.

Tillerson departs for Germany on Wednesday for a meeting of foreign ministers from the Group of 20 world powers in Bonn on Thursday and Friday.

The new report claims Paul Manafort - Trump's former campaign chairman - was one of the people who spoke to Russian intelligence. He (pictured in April 2016) has denied the allegation

The meeting comes amid disarray in the Trump administration's national security team and European concerns over US priorities on the continent as well as its commitments to NATO and other international organizations.

Tillerson will also meet separately with counterparts from Britain, Saudi Arabia and Oman and participate in talks on Syria and Yemen.

The G-20 comprises Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, Germany, France, Britain, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Canada, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the U.S. and European Union.

Tillerson's meeting with Lavrov will give the Kremlin a chance to grasp what Washington, DC, is now thinking and where this may lead.

The resignation of national security advisor Michael Flynn, who was seen in Moscow as a leading advocate of warmer ties with Russia, has underscored for the Kremlin the difficulties reconciling its relationship Washington and drove home the urgent need to find new areas of common interest.

Flynn, who shared dinner with Putin in 2015 and favoured Washington uniting with Russia against Islamic State militants, quit on Monday after revelations he had improperly discussed the issue of US sanctions on Russia with the Russian ambassador to Washington before Trump took office.

A US official said Flynn indicated to the envoy that the sanctions 'would not necessarily carry over to an administration seeking to improve relations between the US and Russia'.

The alleged contact comes after Sergei A. Ryabkov (pictured), Russia's deputy foreign minister, was quoted just days after the election as having said: 'There were contacts... Obviously, we know most of the people from his entourage'

'Flynn, unlike many other high-ranking Americans, was at least open to dialogue,' said Konstantin Kosachev, head of the upper house of parliament's foreign affairs committee.

'Either Trump has not gained the requisite independence and is being gradually (and not unsuccessfully) backed into a corner, or Russophobia has already infected the new administration.'

Other Russian politicians suggested Flynn had been forced to resign to harm relations with Moscow. But the Kremlin, anxious not to feed fears of Russian media manipulation to influence US politics, said only that it was an internal US matter.

While Russia's parliament applauded on learning that Donald Trump had won the presidential election, Flynn's resignation was a setback.

The Kremlin still believes a rapprochement is feasible, even if it might take longer than initially thought.

But the clock is ticking: Vladimir Putin is expected to run for another presidential term next year, and an easing in Western sanctions could speed Russia's recovery from a recession and safeguard his national popularity.

For now, Russia plans to keep working with the Trump administration toward a rapprochement, looking to improve the atmosphere.

With relations having sunk to a post-Cold War nadir under Trump's predecessor Barack Obama as a result of Moscow's 2014 annexation of Crimea, they could hardly get worse.

The resignation of national security advisor Michael Flynn (pictured), who was seen in Moscow as a leading advocate of warmer ties with Russia, has underscored for the Kremlin the difficulties reconciling its relationship Washington

TRUMP FIRED MIKE FLYNN OVER 'ERODING LEVEL OF TRUST' - BUT PENCE WAS KEPT IN THE DARK FOR DAYS Donald Trump demanded his national security adviser's resignation last night after concluding that an 'eroding level of trust' had made it impossible to leave him in the sensitive position. Mike Flynn is seen in the White House on February 13 - before he was fired by Donald Trump A report late on Tuesday afternoon revealed that Michael Flynn had been interviewed by the FBI in the first days of the Trump administration over claims he made about a pre-inauguration talk with a Kremlin representative that were repeated by the vice president. Investigators were concerned that Flynn did not tell them the entire truth, the New York Times said, and informed the White House the very same day. Yet, the vice president did not find out until two weeks later, on Feb. 9, NBC News claimed early on Tuesday evening. Mike Pence's spokesman, Mark Lotter, confirmed the network's reporting shortly after to a group of journalists. Lotter further said that the VP learned of Flynn's deceit from the same report on Feb. 9 that they did. 'The vice president became of the incomplete information that he had received on Feb. 9 last Thursday night based on media accounts, and he did an inquiry based on those media accounts,' Lotter stated. Lotter delivered the statement as reporters finished a gaggle with White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer about Flynn's spectacular fall from grace. Spicer had said at a news conference earlier in the day that Trump had been reviewing and evaluating allegations against Flynn for weeks. He would not get into the details of the situation then, or later, other than to say that it reached 'critical mass' last night. 'That is why the president decided to ask for his resignation, and he got it.' Spicer cited Flynn's misleading statements to Pence about the call he had with the Russian ambassador to the United States – 'and a series of other questionable instances' that he would not describe. If the ex-general provided false statements to the FBI he could face an investigation with the possibility of felony charges. It is an offense not to tell the agency the truth and interviews do not have to be under oath. The Department of Justice notified the White House's legal counsel, Don McGhan, on Jan. 26 that Flynn may have fibbed when he said that he did not discuss sanctions with Kislyak. The White House's Office of Legal Counsel immediately told Trump and some of his advisers. Advertisement

Dmitry Peskov, Putin's spokesman, said on Tuesday he could not say when or where the Russian leader would meet Trump and that it was 'premature' to even talk about what direction US-Russian relations might take.

A series of US Senate confirmation hearings for Trump's cabinet nominees did not go the Kremlin's way either, with the incoming defense secretary and secretary of state both raising concerns about the dangers of Russia as an unpredictable military player.

Russian officials are frustrated too that Trump has not yet filled key senior staff positions at the State Department, leaving Russian diplomats feeling they have nobody to work with.

'To have cooperation, you need someone to promote it from the other end,' Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, testily told a news briefing last week.

Moscow seems to have been taken aback by the strength of Congressional opposition to Trump overseeing a rapprochement with Russia, a factor that would make it hard for him to ease sanctions even if he wanted to.

In a further reverse for the Kremlin, senior US senators have introduced legislation that would give Congress the right to review any move to relax sanctions on Russia.

Sergei Kislyak, Russia's ambassador to the United States, told state television last week Moscow was aware of how difficult the domestic US scene was becoming for Russia.

'Does the lack of political consensus inside the U.S. create problems for our bilateral relations?' Kislyak asked rhetorically. 'That is an objective reality.'