Enlarge / Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, gestures from the balcony of Ecuador’s embassy in London. (credit: Jack Taylor/Getty Images)

Last year, Ecuador attempted to deputize WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange as one of its own diplomats and send him to Russia, according to a Friday report by Reuters.

Citing an “Ecuadorian government document,” which the news agency did not publish, Assange apparently was briefly granted a “special designation” to act as one of its diplomats, a privilege normally granted to the president for political allies. However, that status was then withdrawn when the United Kingdom objected.

The Associated Press reported earlier in the week that newly-leaked documents showed that Assange sought a Russian visa back in 2010. WikiLeaks has vehemently denied that Assange did so.