Public address system: Russian State Duma and US Congress create friendship groups
During a visit to the United States on March 26-27, State Duma deputies agreed with American congressmen to create a parliamentary relations group. The parties are already forming a mechanism for interaction on an ongoing basis, the State Duma told Izvestia. The parliamentarians also discussed the Ukrainian crisis. The very fact of the contacts has stirred up not only Kiev, but also the political "hawks" in Washington. At the same time, both delegations positively assessed the results of the meeting. Now the congressmen are expected to pay a return visit to Moscow, including on Victory Day. How they reacted to the historic meeting of lawmakers and what kind of "caucus" will appear in the US House of Representatives is in the Izvestia article.
How did the meeting of the parliamentarians of the Russian Federation and the United States end?
During two days in the United States, Russian parliamentarians managed to achieve very tangible results and discuss a wide range of pressing issues with their congressional colleagues. Kirill Dmitriev, Special Representative of the President of the Russian Federation and head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), who all this time, in fact, represented the Russian side in almost all contacts with the Americans, called the visit of the State Duma deputies a historic event.
All members of the Russian delegation have only positive impressions of the meeting. Member of the House of Representatives Anna Paulina Luna, at whose invitation the deputies arrived in the United States of America, even personally conducted a tour of the Capitol.
At a meeting in Washington on March 26, the legislators of Russia and the United States actually agreed to create a group for relations between the parliaments of the two countries, said Vyacheslav Nikonov, first deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs. A so-called Russian caucus can be created in the House of Representatives, that is, an association of members of Congress who are interested in dialogue with Russia. As specified by deputy Svetlana Zhurova, who was a member of the delegation, we are talking, in fact, about friendship groups.
Alexey Chepa, first deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs, told Izvestia that the parties are already forming a mechanism for interaction on an ongoing basis.
— The communications group is already being created. The main task is to establish contacts. What is always the first step? Not the signing of an agreement, but an agreement that we are meeting. This has been achieved, the first steps have been taken," said Chepa.
Meeting of deputies of the Russian State Duma and U.S. Congressmen at the Donald Trump Institute of Peace in Washington
The deputies also conveyed to their American colleagues their views on joint work in the field of international security and the economy. However, we should not expect any breakthrough agreements in this area, since the legislators still do not represent the government or the president of the Russian Federation - the very fact of contacts is rather important here. Recently, there has been a lot of talk about potential joint projects between Russia and the United States on rare earth metals, but so far this remains at the discussion level.
"There have not been any concrete negotiations on this topic yet," Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov told Izvestia at the XXXV Congress of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs.
According to Boris Chernyshov, Deputy Speaker of the State Duma, a number of congressmen are generally very optimistic, "ready to listen and hear our arguments and proposals." Among them are the lifting of sanctions, from personal to economic, as well as the opening of the office of ANO Eurasia in Washington for international cooperation and the preservation of historical memory. Chernyshov also suggested holding a number of joint events, including a scientific historical conference on World War II. Attempts by some Western politicians to distort the legacy of the Second World War remain one of the "irritants" for the Russian side.
On March 27, a number of bilateral meetings took place, including at the National Security Council, said Mikhail Delyagin, a member of the delegation.
Following the results of the entire trip, the group will prepare a report to the leadership of the State Duma. The Russian Foreign Ministry will probably get acquainted with the results of the trip before anyone else — the meetings were held with the participation of Russian Ambassador to the United States Alexander Darchiev.
Now the American congressmen are expected in Moscow. Plans for a return visit by US lawmakers to Russia are already being discussed in detail, and it is expected before July, Nikonov said. Although, perhaps, the Americans will arrive earlier — according to Chernyshov, they are invited to the capital for the celebration on May 9th.
Who reacted to the contacts between the State Duma and the US Congress and how
In addition to the ideological mastermind of the meeting, Anna Paulina Luna, the American Congress was represented by her fellow party members in the U.S. House of Representatives, Andy Ogles, Derrick Van Orden, and Eli Crane. It is important to note that there were Democrats on the other side of the negotiations in the person of Vicente Gonzalez.
Ogls, in unison with Luna, spoke in favor of developing a dialogue with Russian lawmakers, as well as for expanding economic opportunities. Former Marine Van Orden, apparently, is more skeptical about cooperation — according to him, he, for example, used to train Georgian and Ukrainian special forces in the fight against Russia. However, he also noted that it is important to establish normal relations first before demanding further action from Russia.
Such a very prominent American official as the Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Brian Mast, was also expected to participate in the meeting. He was unable to attend, but also stressed the importance of such contacts.
The Ukrainian side, of course, condemned the meeting. Kiev's representative in the United States, Olga Stefanyshina, immediately blamed the victims of the conflict on congressmen — simply for the very fact of contacts with Russian lawmakers.
The bold initiative of American officials provoked a strong reaction not only in Ukraine, but also in the ranks of the so-called "hawks". "Anna Paulina Luna needs to decide whether she wants to represent Florida or the Kremlin," the Democratic Congressional Elections Committee (DCCC) said, advising Luna to resign in the second case. Her colleague on the Foreign Affairs Committee, Andy Barr, called Russia an "adversary," declared support for Ukraine, and generally questioned the purpose of the meeting.
Anna Paulina Luna
However, it is unlikely that without personal contacts, and preferably at all levels, any compromises can be reached, including on the Ukrainian settlement. Anna Paulina Luna's position is clear: stop the fighting and guarantee congressional support for a peaceful settlement. The State Duma delegation discussed acute issues related to the Ukrainian crisis with congressmen. But the decision, of course, belongs only to the leaders of the conflicting and interested parties.
"These meetings are more symbolic than meaningful, since most of the decisions and policies of both Moscow and Washington are determined by Presidents Putin and Trump, respectively, and not by parliamentary bodies," said Said Khan, a professor at Wayne University in Detroit, told Izvestia.
The Russia–USA–Ukraine trilateral talks have been suspended after the escalation of the conflict over Iran, and work is obviously continuing on bilateral tracks. Russia maintains contacts with the Americans for negotiations on the Ukrainian settlement, Russian Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. Coordination on future economic cooperation is also in an active phase. On March 11, Kirill Dmitriev met in Florida with Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff, the US president's son-in-law Jared Kushner and Commissioner of the Federal Procurement Service Josh Grunbaum.
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