Russian President Vladimir Putin said he wasn’t aware former US national security adviser Michael Flynn appeared at a 2015 dinner in Moscow despite a photo showing the two men sitting together.

“I made my speech. Then we talked about some other stuff. And I got up and left. And then afterwards I was told, ‘You know there was an American gentleman, he was involved in some things. He used to be in the security services,’” Putin told NBC News’ “Sunday Night with Megyn Kelly.” “That’s it. I didn’t even really talk to him. That’s the extent of my acquaintance with Mr. Flynn.”

Flynn, who was fired in February by President Trump for hiding his contacts with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak from White House officials, was paid $45,000 to speak at the dinner celebrating Russia Today, a Kremlin-financed TV network that US intelligence agencies consider a propaganda arm for Putin’s government.

The Russian leader told Kelly in an interview that will air on NBC News’ “Sunday Night with Megyn Kelly” that he had a closer relationship with her.

“You and I, you and I personally, have a much closer relationship than I had with Mr. Flynn. You and I met yesterday evening. You and I have been working together all day today. And now we’re meeting again.”

Flynn, a retired Army general, told the Washington Post in August 2016 that he was introduced to Putin but did not talk to him and had not asked to sit next to him at the gala.

“I was one of the guests there,” he said.

Flynn is now among a number of former and current Trump associates — including former campaign manager Paul Manafort and top White House aide and son-in-law Jared Kushner — being investigated for possible ties to Moscow.

A number of congressional panels as well as the FBI and special counsel Robert Mueller are probing Russian involvement in the 2016 presidential election and whether Trump campaign aides colluded with Kremlin officials.