"I will not talk about anything that happened in off-the-record meetings,” Carter Page said. | AP Photo Trump campaign adviser argues over definition of 'meeting' with Russian ambassador

A former campaign adviser to President Donald Trump on Thursday sought to clarify the nature of his interactions with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak, saying he has “never spoken with Ambassador Kislyak for more than ten seconds.”

In an interview with CNN’s Anderson Cooper on Friday, Carter Page refused to answer whether or not a conversation took place with Kislyak, arguing back and forth with Cooper about what exactly would constitute a “meeting.”


“Anderson, a great analogy is you and I were members of the same health club here in New York previously. And I remember walking by you even though we didn't know each other and I said, 'Hi, Anderson,' and you said hello and we, you know, a nice little exchange for half a second. Now, does that to you constitute a meeting?” Page asked.

“Well, I guess we’ve met but it’s not a meeting,” Cooper said.

“Exactly. Thanks a lot. I will not talk about anything that happened in off-the-record meetings,” Page replied.

The interview comes just a day after Page refused to deny meeting Kislyak in an interview with MSNBC’s Chris Hayes, after effectively denying any contact with the Russian official in a previous interview with PBS’ Judy Woodruff.

When Cooper pressed Page on meetings with Trump that he has previously mentioned, which the administration now denies, the former adviser said he “never briefed” the president or even “shook his hand” but has attended many of his rallies.

Cooper subsequently asked if people who attend Trump’s rallies can then claim to have also met with the president.

“You are now saying those meetings were actually rallies,” Cooper said.

“That is — listen, if you look at the definition of ‘meeting’ in Russian and in a Russian context, when they have large ... ” Page said, before the CNN anchor interrupted to confirm he spoke the language.

“You’re saying you were using the Russian definition of meetings,” Cooper said.

Page then refused to comment on what has been the smallest meeting he has been in with the president.

The former aide also evaded questions on his role in the campaign and whether he wrote policy papers for the campaign, saying he “stepped back” from the campaign to avoid being a “distraction.”

“I have no comment on that because I mean what he said the night of the election is this is not a campaign, this is a movement. And I very much see myself as, you know, a supporter. That's probably the best definition of myself,” Page said.

Regarding Page’s trip to Moscow in December 2016 to give a graduation speech at a Russian university, which he said the campaign was “fine with”, Page admitted to only having contact with scholars about foreign policy, but “nothing serious about the campaign.”

He also denied having any conversations about Russian hacking in the 2016 election to undermine Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton’s campaign, and debunked any allegations of his involvement in the cyberattacks.

“Anderson, not only did they not talk about it then, they've never said -- no one has ever said -- no Russian person has ever said one word to me ever, you know, in the — from — to this very day,” Page said.