Story highlights Sergey Kislyak downplayed his contact with members of the Trump campaign in an interview with CNN on Wednesday

"It's nonsense," Kislyak said when asked if he tried to recruit members of the Trump administration

Saransk, Russia (CNN) Russia's former ambassador to the United States Sergey Kislyak downplayed his contact with members of the Trump campaign on Wednesday, calling allegations that he worked as a spymaster and tried to recruit people within President Donald Trump's orbit "nonsense" during an exclusive interview with CNN.

Kislyak left the US for Russia last month after concluding his tour of service but remains a central figure in the federal and congressional Russia probes -- causing extensive problems for Trump campaign aides because of multiple failures to disclose talks with him.

In March, CNN reported that Kislyak is considered by US intelligence to be one of Russia's top spies and spy-recruiters in Washington, citing senior US government officials. Russia's Foreign Ministry strongly rejected the allegations.

CNN managed to catch up with Kislyak in the Russian city of Saransk where he was attending a campaign event as a candidate for the Federation Council -- a governing body akin to the US Senate.

During the interview, Kislyak again denied allegations that he worked as a spymaster while in Washington and that he tried to recruit people close to Trump.

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