MP Konstantin Kosachev is head of the upper house of parliament's international affairs committee in Russia.
A senior Russian lawmaker said on Tuesday the resignation of US President Donald Trump's national security adviser, Michael Flynn, suggested Trump had been backed into a corner or that his administration had been "infected" by anti-Russian feeling.
"Either Trump has not gained the requisite independence and he is consequently being not unsuccessfully backed into a corner, or Russophobia has already infected the new administration also from top to bottom," MP Konstantin Kosachev was cited as saying by the RIA Novosti news agency.
Kosachev is head of the upper house of parliament's international affairs committee.
Flynn resigned late on Monday after revelations he had discussed US sanctions on Russia with the Russian ambassador to the United States before Trump took office and misled Vice President Mike Pence about the conversations.
Flynn submitted his resignation hours after Trump said through a spokesman that he was reviewing the situation and talking to Vice President Mike Pence.
Flynn had promised Pence he had not discussed US sanctions with the Russians, but transcripts of intercepted communications, described by US officials, showed that the subject had come up in conversations between him and the Russian ambassador to the United States, Sergey Kislyev. Such contacts could potentially be in violation of a law banning private citizens from engaging in foreign policy, known as the Logan Act.
Flynn's departure was the most dramatic moment yet of Trump's young presidency, a 24-day period during which his White House has been repeatedly distracted by miscues and internal dramas. "Unfortunately, because of the fast pace of events, I inadvertently briefed the vice president-elect and others with incomplete information regarding my phone calls with the Russian ambassador. I have sincerely apologized to the president and the vice president, and they have accepted my apology," Flynn said in his resignation letter.
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