In Washington, D.C., today, Russian legislators met with members of the U.S. Congress for a long overdue, face-to-face exchange in an open dialogue on peace and bilateral relations. The dialogue had been arranged by one Florida congresswoman, Ana Paulina Luna, who has maintained that dialogue is better than silence.
The Russian parliamentary delegation landed in New York yesterday, after having discussed matters of foreign policy with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The delegation was led by Vyacheslav Nikonov, a deputy chairman of the Duma’s International Affairs Committee. It a fellow member of the United Russia party, Svetlana Zhurova; A Just Party’s Alexey Chepa; the Communist Party’s Vladimir Isakov; and two from the LDPR—Leonid Slutsky and Boris Chernyshov. Of no little note, Nikonov’s grandfather, Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov, had many a dealing in Washington with Franklin Delano Roosevelt, during the US-USSR alliance against Nazi Germany.
The delegations met at the Donald Trump Institute of Peace. The U.S. team had both Democratic and Republican lawmakers, according to a Telegram post of Chernyshov. He said that the Russian delegation plan was to present Moscow’s position to their American counterparts and “create the basis for future dialogue.” After the meeting, he reported that it was “an open and honest dialogue,” that the two sides covered “a large number of issues, and that the results were “good.” He said that this visit aids in reviving what used to be a major avenue of dialogue that has been “totally frozen” in recent years. The head of the delegation, Nikonov, said that the talks had gone “better than expected,” adding that restoring contacts between the two nations’ legislatures is now “possible.”
U.S. Congresswoman Luna posted afterwards: “As representatives of the world’s two greatest nuclear super powers, we owe our citizens open dialogue, ideas, and open lines of communication.” The two sides discussed “peace and bilateral relations.” Now, continued communication between the world’s two “greatest nuclear superpowers” is of utmost importance. She herself would “foster… dialogue and push for peace” in relations with Moscow.
