US Attorney General Jeff Sessions has said he will recuse himself from any investigations into matters relating to President Donald Trump's election campaign.
He made the announcement in a statement that comes amid a controversy over Mr Sessions' meetings with a Russian diplomat last year.
Mr Sessions said his statement should not be interpreted as confirming the existence of any investigation.
He said that neither of his two meetings with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergei Kislyak related to Mr Trump's election campaign.
AG Sessions recuses himself from any existing or future investigations into @POTUS campaigns;says his answer to Senate was"honest & correct" pic.twitter.com/MhWWd5VJkC
— Caitriona Perry (@CaitrionaPerry) March 2, 2017
The former senator said he discussed terrorism and the situation in Ukraine with Mr Kislyak, adding that the discussion on Ukraine "got a little testy".
He also said that he does not believe he met with any other Russian official since he endorsed Mr Trump's campaign last year.
He added that his reply when questioned about Russian contacts at a Senate hearing was honest and correct as he understood it at the time.
However, he went on to say that he should have told the Senate confirmation hearing that he had met with the Russian Ambassador.
President Trump took to twitter to defend his Attorney General, who he could have been more accurate in what he said about his contacts with Russian officials, but is is an honest man and that he did not say anything wrong.
He accused the Democrats of "overplaying their hand" and "losing their grip on reality" and described the "illegal leaks of classified and other information" as a witch hunt".
Earlier Mr Trump told reporters he has "total" confidence in Mr Sessions and said he did not think Mr Sessions should recuse himself from investigations into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
During a visit to a US aircraft carrier Mr Trump also told reporters he "wasn't aware" that Mr Sessions held two meetings with Mr Kislyak last year.
The statement from Mr Trump came after House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan also said he saw no reason for Mr Sessions to recuse himself from the investigations.
"If he himself is a subject of an investigation, of course he would. But if he's not, I don't see any purpose or reason to doing this," the Wisconsin Republican said.
"We have seen no evidence from any of these ongoing investigations that anybody in the Trump campaign or the Trump team was involved in any of this," Mr Ryan added.
Mr Sessions has come under pressure from Democrats to resign in the wake of the controversy.
While not going that far, several congressional Republicans have called on him to recuse himself from the investigations.
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said Mr Sessions misled Congress over his contacts with the Russian official and should resign for the good of the country.
"Attorney General Jeff Sessions had weeks to correct the record that he made before the Judiciary Committee but he let the record stand," Mr Schumer told a news conference this afternoon.
"Because the Department of Justice should be above reproach, for the good of the country Attorney General Sessions should resign," he said.
US House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi also called on Mr Sessions to resign after the Washington Post reported he failed to disclose two meetings he had with the Russian ambassador before Mr Trump was inaugurated as president.
Citing Justice Department officials, the Post said Mr Sessions spoke twice last year with Russia's ambassador while he was still a US senator.
He failed to disclose the encounters when asked during his confirmation hearing to become attorney general about possible contacts between Mr Trump's campaign and Russian officials, the newspaper said.
Ms Pelosi called for Mr Sessions to resign and for an independent, bipartisan investigation into Mr Trump's possible ties to Russians.
"Sessions is not fit to serve as the top law enforcement officer of our country and must resign," she said in a statement.
Sessions says he never discussed campaign details
In a statement posted on Twitter later by his spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores, Mr Sessions said he had never discussed campaign details with any Russian officials.
"I have no idea what this allegation is about. It is false," Mr Sessions said in the statement.
Statement from Attorney General Sessions: pic.twitter.com/kZic12DW0R
— Sarah Isgur Flores (@whignewtons) March 2, 2017
Mr Trump's first national security adviser, Michael Flynn, was fired last month after he discussed US sanctions on Russia with Mr Kislyak before Mr Trump took office and misled Vice President Mike Pence about the conversations.
The Washington Post said one of Mr Sessions' meetings was a private conversation with Mr Kislyak that took place in the senator's office in September.
This came at the height of what US intelligence officials say was a Russian cyber campaign to upend the US presidential race, the Post reported.
As attorney general, Mr Sessions oversees the Justice Department, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which have been leading investigations into Russian meddling and any links to Mr Trump's associates.
When he spoke to Mr Kislyak in July and September, he was a senior member of the influential Senate Armed Services Committee as well as one of Mr Trump's top foreign policy advisers, according to the Post.
Mr Sessions played a prominent role supporting Mr Trump after formally joining the campaign in February 2016.
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At his 10 January Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing, Mr Sessions was asked by Democratic Senator Al Franken what he would do if he learned of any evidence that anyone affiliated with the Trump campaign communicated with the Russian government in the course of the 2016 campaign, the Post reported.
"I'm not aware of any of those activities," Mr Sessions responded, according to the Post. He added:
"I have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign and I did not have communications with the Russians."
Officials said Mr Sessions did not consider the conversations relevant to the committee's questions and did not remember in detail what he discussed with Mr Kislyak, according to the Post.
"There was absolutely nothing misleading about his answer," Ms Isgur Flores told the Post.
Justice officials said Mr Sessions met Mr Kislyak on 8 September in his capacity as a member of the armed services panel rather than in his role as a Trump campaign surrogate, the Post reported.
"He was asked during the hearing about communications between Russia and the Trump campaign - not about meetings he took as a senator and a member of the Armed Services Committee," Ms Flores told the Post.
Meanwhile, The US House of Representatives intelligence committee is to investigate allegations of collusion between Donald Trump's presidential campaign and Russia, according to the top Democrat on the committee, Adam Schiff.
In a statement, the committee said its investigation will try to establish whether Russia forged links with individuals associated with political campaigns.
US intelligence agencies have said Russia sought to influence the presidential election to help Mr Trump defeat Hillary Clinton - an allegation both Mr Trump and Moscow have denied.
According to a Trump administration official, the White House counsel's office has instructed President Trump's aides to preserve materials that could be connected to suspected Russian interference.
