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US senators on rare visit to Moscow ahead of Putin-Trump summit
MOSCOW, July 3, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Republican US senators met with Russia’s
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on a rare visit to Moscow Tuesday ahead of a
summit between the countries’ presidents Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump.
The US delegation is in Russia until Thursday, ahead of the summit planned
in Helsinki on July 16, at a time of high tension between Russia and the
West.
“We recognise that the world is better off, I believe, if Russia and the US
have fewer tensions, get a long a little better, maybe put aside some
differences,” Senator Richard Shelby said during Tuesday’s meeting with
Lavrov at the Russian foreign ministry.
“We are competitors, but we don’t necessarily need to be adversaries,” said
Shelby, a Republican senator from Alabama, in televised comments.
“We’re hoping that coming out of the Putin-Trump meeting in Helsinki, it
will be the beginning, maybe, of a new day,” Shelby added. “We will have to
wait and see.”
Lavrov, speaking in English, said he hoped that the US senators’ visit
“will symbolise the resumption of relations between the (US and Russian)
parliaments.” “I think the resumption of dialogue is going to be a very
timely event on the eve of the forthcoming meeting between the two
presidents,” he added.
The senators were due to meet representatives of Russia’s lower and upper
houses of parliament later Tuesday.
Lavrov also congratulated the delegation on the forthcoming US Independence
Day and wished them well on hosting the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Russia is
currently hosting this year’s tournament.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said there was no plan for the senators to
meet with Putin.
He said the Kremlin was “very satisfied” that the senators were visiting
Russia.
“We are convinced that inter-parliamentary links are one of the most
important factors in bilateral ties,” he told reporters.
Moscow and Washington announced the summit date after Trump’s National
Security Advisor John Bolton met with Putin in Moscow last week.
The head-to-head between the US and Russian leaders will follow a delicate
NATO summit in Brussels. Trump has expressed scorn for the alliance and is
expected to upbraid European NATO members for not spending enough on their
own defence.
BSS/AFP/FI/ 1624 hrs