US senators on rare visit to Moscow ahead of Putin-Trump summit

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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.

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump (R) shake hands during a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, July 7, 2017. /AFP Photo

“We recognize that the world is better off, I believe, if Russia and the US have fewer tensions, get along 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.

US Senator Richard Shelby leaves the Russian Foreign Ministry building following a meeting with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow, Russia, July 3, 2018. /Reuters Photo

“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 symbolize 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.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov speaks during a meeting with a delegation of US lawmakers in Moscow, Russia, July 3, 2018. /Reuters Photo

The senators were due to meet representatives of Russia’s lower and upper houses of parliament later Tuesday.

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.

Source(s): AFP