Russia responds to Michael Flynn's resignation as Donald Trump's National Security Adviser

'It's nothing to do with us'

Michael Flynn resigned after revelations he had discussed US sanctions on Russia with the Russian ambassador to the US before Mr Trump took office (Reuters)

The Kremlin has responded to the resignation of Donald Trump's national security adviser Michael Flynn by saying it is an "internal affair" of the US and "nothing to do" with Russia.

"This is the internal affair of the Americans, the internal affair of the Trump administration," Vladimir Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. "It's nothing to do with us."

Mr Flynn resigned less than a month after taking office after revelations he had discussed US sanctions on Russia with the Russian ambassador to the US before Mr Trump took office and misled Vice President mike Pence about the conversations.

"We have said everything we want to say," Mr Peskov added.

Mr Peskov has previously said Mr Flynn and the ambassador did not discuss lifting sanctions in their conversations. He declined to elaborate on those earlier comments when asked following Mr Flynn's resignation.

Earlier, a senior Russian politician claimed it was clear Mr Flynn was forced to resign in an effort to damage relations between Russia and the US.

"It's obvious that Flynn was forced to write the letter of resignation under a certain amount of pressure," Leonid Slutsky, head of the lower house of parliament's foreign affairs committee, was quoted as saying by the RIA news agency.

"The target was Russia-US relations, undermining confidence in the new US administration. We'll see how the situation develops further," he added.

Konstantin Kosachev, chairman of the foreign affairs committee in Russia’s upper parliamentary chamber, wrote on Facebook that Mr Flynn’s resignation was “not just paranoia but something even worse.

“Either Trump hasn’t found the necessary independence and he’s been driven into a corner… or Russophobia has permeated the new administration from top to bottom.”