The visit of representatives of the russian State Duma to the Capitol caused a loud political scandal in the US. This is reported by Politico.
The tour for the russians, among whom was the grandson of Stalin's assistant Vyacheslav Nikonov and members of the Foreign Affairs Committee, was organized by the office of Republican Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna. The appearance of sanctioned individuals in the walls of Congress against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine and russia's cooperation with Iran caused a wave of indignation among both Democrats and Republicans.
Democrat Mike Quigley called this visit a direct threat to security and democracy.
"Foreign political agents of our adversaries should never be allowed on Capitol Hill," he said.
He was supported by Senator Mark Warner, calling the situation "extremely problematic," and Congressman Jamie Raskin sharply criticized Luna for privately receiving "members of the Duma who are sympathetic to putin."
Criticism was also heard from the Republican camp. In particular, Joe Wilson compared the russians' visit to receiving representatives of the Third Reich.
"As self-proclaimed enemies of the American way of life and perpetrators of horrific mass murder, members of the regime of war criminal putin should not be received in any way," Wilson said.
Jeanne Shaheen also added specific complaints, noting that granting visas to sanctioned officials legitimizes the Kremlin at a time when pressure on it should only grow.
The situation is complicated by the fact that the meeting took place against the backdrop of reports of intelligence sharing between russia and Iran, which has already led to losses among the American military. Despite the Kremlin's offer to end such cooperation in exchange for the US's refusal to help Ukraine, Washington has officially rejected such conditions.
Meanwhile, according to Politico, European Union countries are increasingly holding closed discussions without Hungary's participation due to fears that confidential information could leak to russia.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk called it a disgrace that Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó confirmed that he had transferred data to his counterpart from the aggressor state of russia, Sergey Lavrov, after meetings of the EU Council.
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