Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said Thursday evening he would ask President Trump to lift sanctions against the chairmen of both houses of the Russian legislature so they can visit the U.S. in the fall.
Paul just returned to the U.S. from Russia after a trip intended to promote diplomacy between the two countries. Paul told Fox News Thursday evening that the leaders of both chambers of the Russian legislature have committed to visiting the U.S. this year, but they can’t until sanctions are lifted.
“They have both agreed to come to Washington in the fall for further meetings,” Paul said. “That’s a good thing.”
“The downside is each of the chairmen of each of the committees is banned from coming to the United States because of sanctions,” Paul continued. “So one of the things I’m going to ask the president, I’m going to talk to the president this weekend, is I’m going to say ‘Why don’t we take people off the list who are in the legislature.’”
[Also read: Rand Paul on election meddling: ‘We all do it’]
Paul announced this month that he would travel to Moscow, and delivered a letter from Trump to Russian President Vladimir Putin while there.
Although Paul has historically been characterized as an “isolationist,” Paul condemned his critics this week for being “diplomatic isolationists.”
“Just another indication that we need to figure out a way to normalize our relations with Russia rather than trying to have diplomatic isolationism,” Paul told reporters Tuesday. “I think that’s what many of the neoconservatives in the Republican Party and now some progressives on the Left have become, diplomatic isolationists.”
