WASHINGTON, March 31. /TASS/. A trip by US congressmen to Moscow would look like a logical next step following a recent visit of State Duma members to Washington, Peter Slezkine, Senior Fellow and Director of the Russia Program at the Washington-based Stimson Center, told TASS in an interview.
"The Duma delegation’s visit to Washington is a welcome development. A reciprocal visit to Moscow by members of Congress would seem like a natural next step. Officials from major powers should always engage, regardless of the wars their countries happen to wage," the US political analyst argued.
On March 26-27, a Duma delegation held working meetings in Washington as the interparliamentary dialogue between Russia and the United States, stalled over many years, was actually restored. The visit came at the invitation of Anna Paulina Luna, a Republican member of the US House of Representatives.
The delegation included five Russian lawmakers who met with both their US counterparts and US officials. Vyacheslav Nikonov, First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs, called the visit historic. He recalled that American legislators last arrived for an informal meeting in 2017. "Our semi-official delegation visited here (the United States - TASS) in 2014, and an official one came to visit in 2004. Therefore, there have been no contacts at all in the past few years," Nikonov noted.
He said a bipartisan House delegation may pay a reciprocal visit to Moscow before July.