Embattled US Attorney General Jeff Sessions reportedly discussed campaign-related issues with the Russian ambassador to Washington during the presidential race

Embattled US Attorney General Jeff Sessions discussed campaign-related issues with the Russian ambassador to Washington during the presidential race - something Sessions has insisted he did not do, The Washington Post reported late Friday.

The paper quoted current and former administration officials who cited US intelligence intercepts of Ambassador Sergey Kislyak's accounts to his bosses in Moscow of two encounters he had with Sessions, then an adviser to President Donald Trump, during the campaign.

The report is certain to add more pressure on Sessions, whose job security is seen as being in jeopardy after Trump criticized him in scathing terms in an interview this week with The New York Times, saying he was sorry he had hired him.

Trump said he regretted the hiring because Sessions in March recused himself from overseeing an FBI-led probe into Russian meddling in the election in Trump's favor and whether the Trump team colluded in that effort.

Sessions recused himself in March after it was disclosed that he had in fact met with the ambassador during the campaign, after saying during his confirmation hearing that he had not met with any Russian officials during that period.

The Washington Post quoted current and ex-officials who cited US intelligence intercepts of Ambassador Sergey Kislyak's (above) accounts to his bosses in Moscow of two encounters he had with Sessions, then an adviser to Trump, during the campaign

The report is certain to add more pressure on Sessions, whose job security is seen as being in jeopardy after President Donald Trump (left) criticized him because Sessions recused himself from overseeing an FBI-led probe into Russian meddling in the election in Trump's favor

But Sessions insisted when he recused himself that he had not talked about the US election campaign with the ambassador.

'I never had meetings with Russian operatives or Russian intermediaries about the Trump campaign,' he said at the time.

However, Kislyak, in briefing his superiors on the meetings, said he and Sessions discussed campaign-related matters including policy issues important to Moscow, the Post said.

It quoted one former official as saying the intercepts suggest Sessions and Kislyak had 'substantive' talks on issues including Trump's positions on Russia-related subjects and prospects for bilateral relations in a Trump administration.

Sessions' account - he has said he recalls meeting only once with the ambassador - provided 'misleading' statements that are 'contradicted by other evidence,' a separate US official said.

A Justice Department spokesperson repeated Sessions' earlier denial that he did not discuss election-related matters with Kislyak.

'Obviously I cannot comment on the reliability of what anonymous sources describe in a wholly uncorroborated intelligence intercept that the Washington Post has not seen and that has not been provided to me,' said the spokesperson, Sarah Isgur Flores.

There is speculation in political and media circles that the Kislyak intercepts which make Sessions look bad were intentionally leaked by Trump as a way of expediting the attorney general's exit.

The feeling is that Trump is eager to push Sessions out so that he can then appoint an attorney general who would not need to recuse himself from overseeing the Russia investigation.

At that point, Trump would have cause to dismiss the special counsel investigating his campaign's ties to Russia, former FBI director Robert Mueller.

Garrett M. Graff, a journalist currently attending a security conference in Aspen, tweeted: 'Every GOP figure I've spoken to assumes Trump leaked this to force Sessions out.

'"Certainly not a Mueller leak," one said.'

'Well, here's Trump's excuse to fire Sessions and get a stooge successor who'll fire Mueller,' GQ Magazine's Keith Olbermann tweeted on Friday.

Joy Reid of MSNBC tweeted: 'Irresistible question: Could Trump team have leaked the Kislyak intercepts to push Sessions out after he failed to resign yesterday?

'After all, removing Sessions and installing a lackey AG with no Russia recusal would be the easiest way for Trump to have Mueller fired.'