MOSCOW, September 4. /TASS/: Chairman of the Russian Federation Council Foreign Affairs Committee Konstantin Kosachev will hold a meeting with US Senator Michael Lee (R-Utah) on September 6, a spokesman for the upper house told TASS.
"Kosachev will meet with Michael Lee at the Federation Council on Friday," the spokesman said.
The meeting will be held at the US senator’s initiative, Kosachev told TASS. "The senator’s trip to Moscow is the American’s initiative. Certainly, he accepted the proposal for a meeting at the Federation Council," he said.
According to Politico, Lee was granted a Russian visa this week. The senator plans to visit Russia on September 5-8. During his trip, Lee expects to discuss "trade and military relations, [and] religious liberty," his spokesperson commented. "It is important for the United States to maintain a strong and open dialogue with the Russian Federation in order to make progress on matters that are central to American peace and prosperity," he added.
In Moscow, Lee plans to meet with government officials and members of the business community, including outgoing US Ambassador to Russia Jon Huntsman.
Take on the possibility of interparliamentary contacts
Russian legislators believe that contacts with their counterparts from the United States are in high demand and this week’s meeting with US Senator Michael Lee (R-Utah) will show whether he is ready for resuming a full-fledged dialogue, Chairman of the Russian Federation Council Foreign Affairs Committee Konstantin Kosachev told TASS.
"Russia has never refrained from such contacts, moreover we believe they are in high demand in the general context of bilateral ties at this stage. We need to understand with what mood Mr. Lee is coming to Moscow and whether he is ready to make efforts for resuming a full-fledged dialogue between the parliaments. This meeting will demonstrate this," Kosachev said.
In late August, several US legislators said that they planned to visit Russia as part of the bipartisan delegation of the US Congress. Democratic senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut and Republican senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin claimed they had been denied Russian visas. Russia responded that Murphy and Johnson had never applied for Russian visas and confirmed that both of them were blacklisted.
