US President Donald Trump said on Sunday he and Russia's president had discussed forming a cyber security unit, an idea harshly criticized by Republicans who said Moscow could not be trusted after its alleged meddling in the 2016 US election.
Tweeting after his first meeting with President Vladimir Putin on Friday, Trump said now was the time to work constructively with Moscow, pointing to a ceasefire deal in southwest Syria that came into effect on Sunday.
"Putin and I discussed forming an impenetrable cyber security unit so that election hacking, and many other negative things, will be guarded and safe," he said following their talks at a summit of the Group of 20 nations in Hamburg, Germany.
Senator Lindsey Graham speaks to the media after Deputy US Attorney General Rod Rosenstein's classified briefing for the full US Senate on President Donald Trump's firing of FBI Director James Comey in Washington, US on May 18, 2017. /VCG Photo
Three Republican senators: Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, John McCain of Arizona and Marco Rubio of Florida,blasted the idea.
"It's not the dumbest idea I have ever heard but it's pretty close," Graham told NBC's "Meet the Press" program, saying that Trump's apparent willingness to "forgive and forget" stiffened his resolve to pass legislation imposing sanctions on Russia.
"There has been no penalty," McCain, who chairs the Senate armed services committee, told CBS' "Face the Nation" program according to a CBS transcript." Putin ... got away with literally trying to change the outcome ... of our election."
"Yes, it's time to move forward. But there has to be a price to pay," he added.
Senator Marco Rubio questions witnesses about Russian interference in the US elections to the Senate Intelligence Committee in Washington, US, on June 21, 2017. /VCG Photo
Rubio, on Twitter, said: "Partnering with Putin on a 'cyber security Unit' is akin to partnering with (Syrian President Bashar al) Assad on a 'Chemical Weapons Unit'."
Trump argued for rapprochement with Moscow in his campaign but has been unable to deliver because his administration has been dogged by investigations into the allegations of Russian interference in the election and ties with his campaign.
Moscow has denied any interference, and Trump says his campaign did not collude with Russia.
The top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee Adam Schiff delivers opening remarks during an open hearing in the US Capitol Visitors Center on June 21, 2017 in Washington, DC. /VCG Photo
Representative Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, told CNN's "State of the Union" program Russia could not be a credible partner in a cyber security unit.
"If that’s our best election defense, we might as well just mail our ballot boxes to Moscow," Schiff added.
Separately, the US government officials said that a recent hack into business systems of the US nuclear power and other energy companies was carried out by Russian government hackers, the Washington Post reported on Saturday.
Time to move forward with Russia
Trump said "We negotiated a ceasefire in parts of Syria which will save lives. Now it is time to move forward in working constructively with Russia!"
In Trump's first attempt at ending the six-year Syrian civil war, the United States, Russia and Jordan on Friday reached a ceasefire and "de-escalation agreement" for southwestern Syria. The ceasefire was holding hours after it took effect on Sunday, a monitor and two rebel officials said.
In another tweet, Trump contradicted his Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, by saying "sanctions were not discussed at my meeting with President Putin. Nothing will be done until the Ukrainian and Syrian problems are solved!"
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and the US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson shake hands in Kiev, Ukraine on July 9, 2017. /VCG Photo
The United States has imposed sanctions on Russia for its 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine.
Tillerson on Friday told reporters Trump had told Putin US lawmakers were pushing for additional sanctions against Russia.
McCain also criticized Tillerson for having said about Syria, "by and large, our (US and Russian) objectives are exactly the same. How we get there, we each have a view. Maybe they have got the right approach and we have got the wrong approach."
The US Senator John McCain looks on during a news conference in Kabul, Afghanistan on July 4, 2017. /VCG Photo
Russia, and Iran, have backed keeping Assad in power. Trump, like his predecessor Barack Obama, has focused on fighting ISIL, leaving for later the question of Assad's fate.
"The Russians knew that Assad was going to use chemical weapons. And to say that maybe we have got the wrong approach?" McCain said. Asked if he regretted voting for Tillerson as secretary of state, he replied: "Sometimes I do."
(Source: Reuters)
