"Fox News Sunday" host Chris Wallace's incisive interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin has earned the cable news giant its first-ever News & Documentary Emmy nomination, Fox News says.

The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS) has announced that the July 2018 sitdown in Helsinki, Finland had been nominated in the "Outstanding Live Interview" category.

The occasionally combative interview took place following a controversial summit meeting between Putin, President Trump and other U.S. officials. Trump received harsh criticism from members of both parties, who claimed he missed a key chance to "stand up" to the Russian leader on the issue of election meddling.

In the interview's standout moment, Wallace tried to give Putin a copy of a federal indictment against a dozen Russian intelligence operatives for allegedly hacking Democratic targets in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Putin motioned for him to put the papers on a side table instead.

"First of all, Russia, as a state, has never interfered with the internal affairs of the United States, let alone its elections,” claimed Putin, who also denied having “kompromat” -- or "compromising material" -- that could be used against Trump.

In another testy exchange, Wallace pressed Putin on attacks that have been carried out against the Russian leader's internal critics.

"Well, first of all, all of us have plenty of political rivals," Putin said. "I'm pretty sure President Trump has plenty of political rivals.”

Wallace shot back: “But they don't end up dead.”