The only reason we know about Trump's meeting with a key figure in the Russia probe is because of the Kremlin

President Donald Trump met with a key figure at the center of the probe into Trump's campaign, Russian ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak, and the only transmission of the moment came from an official Russian government photographer.

In a tweet on Wednesday, the Russian embassy in the US and other Russian agencies released photos of Trump meeting the Russian ambassador, whose discussions with former national security adviser Flynn about US sanctions on Russia helped push Flynn to resign within weeks of coming onto the job.

The photo opportunity came during Trump's meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov at the White House on Wednesday, which was closed to press. 

Aside from official members of the meeting, the only two other people present were an American photographer and a Russian photographer. An official White House readout of the meeting omitted Kislyak's presence at the meeting.

Kislyak's surprise appearance at the meeting surprised many media outlets, who discovered his presence when Russian media shared the photos. The White House has refused to revive official visitor logs instituted under President Barack Obama.

A White House official told the official pool reporter that the only media present for Trump's meeting were official Russian and US government photographers.

The meeting came just one day after Trump fired FBI Director James Comey, a stunning move that followed Comey's request for more resources for the investigation into the Trump campaign's ties to Russia.