But “no” is not a wrong answer either, and all this hullabaloo requires it to be a dead-wrong answer.
You’re called in to see the VP and he says, “I’m going before the press and I need to know if you’ve ever discussed the current sanction with a Russian rep.”
He doesn’t want a legal answer. He wants the story. Tell him the story. “We were discussing and he brought up the sanctions but we didnt get into it beyond that.”