Four sanctioned Russian lawmakers have traveled to the United States for talks with members of Congress, marking the first such visit since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Four Russian lawmakers have traveled to the United States for talks with members of Congress, marking the first such visit since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The trip was allowed despite personal sanctions on the lawmakers after the U.S. State Department granted waivers for the visit.
The talks were organised by Representative Anna Paulina Luna, a Republican from Florida who has advocated improved relations with Moscow and an end to U.S. military aid to Ukraine. Russian lawmaker Leonid Slutsky described the visit as an attempt to “resume the communication, with no specific agenda.”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov expressed hope the meeting would help improve relations between the two countries. “We hope that these first, cautious steps definitely contribute to restoring our bilateral communications, which is in the interests of both Washington and Moscow,” he said.