Sen. Rand Paul Makes Unofficial Visit To Moscow

The Washington Post reports:

Sen. Rand Paul, one of President Trump’s more eager defenders on Russia, jetted into Moscow on Monday in a bid to increase engagement with the country. Paul (R-Ky.) met with several Russian senators including Sergey Kislyak, Russia’s former envoy to Washington and a key player at the heart of the election meddling scandal that continues to rock relations between the United States and Russia.

In a meeting at Russia’s upper house of parliament, Paul also invited Russian lawmakers to meet with U.S. Congress members, in Washington or elsewhere, Interfax news agency reported him as saying. “I think this is in­cred­ibly important,” Paul said after the high-profile sit-down. Monday’s whirlwind visit to Moscow, however, was not part of official diplomacy. “Sen. Rand Paul is visiting Russia as part of a private group,” said a spokesman from the U.S. Embassy in Moscow.

CNN reports:



When asked by CNN whether the issue of Russian interference came up, Paul said he had “general discussions about a lot of issues.” Senior Russian lawmaker Konstantin Kosachev, who was also in the room, reiterated the Russian position that “there was no interference in 2016,” adding “there of course will not be any interference in the elections this year.”