US senators on rare visit to Moscow ahead of Putin-Trump summit

Republican US senators meet with Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on a rare visit to Moscow ahead of a summit between the countries’ presidents, Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump.

The US delegation is in Russia until Thursday, ahead of the summit planned in Helsinki on July 16, at a time of high tension between Russia and the West.

“We recognize that the world is better off, I believe, if Russia and the US have fewer tensions, get along a little better, maybe put aside some differences,” Senator Richard Shelby says during today meeting with Lavrov at the Russian foreign ministry.

“We are competitors, but we don’t necessarily need to be adversaries,” says Shelby, a Republican senator from Alabama, in televised comments.

“We’re hoping that coming out of the Putin-Trump meeting in Helsinki, it will be the beginning, maybe, of a new day,” Shelby adds. “We will have to wait and see.”

Lavrov, speaking in English, says he hopes that the US senators’ visit “will symbolize the resumption of relations between the (US and Russian) parliaments.”

“I think the resumption of dialogue is going to be a very timely event on the eve of the forthcoming meeting between the two presidents,” he adds.

Lavrov also congratulates the delegation on the forthcoming US Independence Day and wishes them well on hosting the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Russia is currently hosting this year’s tournament.

— AFP