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Russian Foreign Ministry points to absence of agreements on US Congress delegation’s visit

The diplomat referred to the recent allegations voiced by US senators Ron Johnson and Chris Murphy

Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova Stanislav Krasilnikov/TASS

Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova

© Stanislav Krasilnikov/TASS

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US legislators should have hosted Russian lawmakers to boost dialogue — embassy

MOSCOW, August 28. /TASS/. Moscow and Washington did not make any specific agreement concerning a US congressional delegation’s visit to Russia, Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at a briefing on Wednesday.

"The US tentatively brought up a possible visit by a group of US lawmakers in early September. No specific agreements concerning the arrangements for the visit and visa applications were made. There was nothing. Nothing at all," she said.

According to Zakharova, neither official requests for meetings nor visa applications came from Washington. She pointed to statements made by US Senators Ron Johnson and Chris Murphy who had accused Moscow of disrupting their visit to Russia as part of a congressional delegation. "It seems the two senators only wanted to make a scandal out of nothing though it is hard to say what for," she added.

The Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman noted that both Johnson and Murphy knew they were on a stop-list that Russia compiled in response to US sanctions on Russian lawmakers.

US legislators’ plans

CNN reported earlier that "Sen. Ron Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican, and Sen. Chris Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat, were scheduled to travel as part of a congressional delegation to Russia next week. Both said their visas for the trip were rejected." Johnson, known for his work on and support of a number of bills introducing sanctions on Russia, said that he had "planned to speak with a range of Russian government officials, American businesses, civil society organizations, and others."

The Russian Foreign Ministry said that Senator Johnson had been blacklisted a while ago and was well aware of it. The ministry pointed out that Johnson "did not apply for a visa but made it look like his visa application had been rejected." Chairman of the Russian State Duma (the lower house of parliament) Foreign Affairs Committee Leonid Slutsky, in turn, told reporters that State Duma members did not plan to meet with US congressional delegations in the near future.

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