Russian lawmakers “don’t understand why” the 2016 cyberattacks against the Democratic Party sparked an array of U.S. sanctions, a senior Republican lawmaker said after meetings in Moscow.

“There is a total disconnect on their part, Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., chairman of the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, told the Washington Examiner. “They don’t understand why their election interference has been blown up into such an issue. They don’t really have a clue, based on their perspective, of why the American public so supports punishing sanctions against them because of the election interference.”