EXCLUSIVE — Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) will be traveling to Europe later this month with a delegation of Senate GOP freshmen.
The senators will be making stops in Denmark, Norway, and Finland, according to Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH), who disclosed the trip in a brief interview with the Washington Examiner. A spokesperson for Thune declined to comment on the travel plans, but one source familiar with the schedule said the visit also includes a stop in Estonia, while two sources confirmed the delegation is limited to the GOP freshmen and Thune.
The trip is significant, in part, for the countries where senators will be visiting. The travel coincides with increasingly strained relations between Washington and the Kremlin, and each is a member nation of NATO. Thune and most of the Senate are ready to move legislation to impose withering penalties on Russia over the war in Ukraine but have so far held off at the request of the White House.
Kristjan Prikk, Estonia’s ambassador to the United States, called the delegation a “very welcome visit” that will “give them a great opportunity to learn of the partnership opportunities as well as the security related concerns in this part of the world, particularly in the light of the continuing Russian aggression against Ukraine and attempts to settle it. “
President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin will be holding a summit to discuss the possible terms of a peace settlement next Friday in Alaska.
Thune’s delegation to Europe is happening alongside other congressional travel organized for the August recess. Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) traveled to Israel with a group of GOP lawmakers, drawing controversy for a reported visit to the West Bank.
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Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS), the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, is set to lead a separate delegation to Taiwan, a trip that follows the administration’s decision to block Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te from making a brief stop in New York.
The Taiwan visit comes as Trump attempts to broker a new trade framework with Beijing, which claims territorial control over the island nation.
Marisa Schultz contributed to this report.
