Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said he plans to ask President Donald Trump to take certain Russians off the sanctions list so they can come to the United States in the fall to meet with government officials — and perhaps Trump himself — to help improve relations between the two countries.
During a Thursday night appearance on Fox News, Paul talked about his recent trip to Russia and the progress he made.
He said both parties agree that "our relations are at the worst they've been since the height of the Cold War."
Paul went on to say that he met with former Soviet Union President Mikhail Gorbachev to pick his brain about how he negotiated with President Ronald Reagan in the 1980s so the two countries could put an end to the Cold War.
"They didn't call each other names, they didn't say 'murderous thug' and talk about all the terrible things, some of which did happen throughout a long period of time in the Soviet Union," Paul said. "They sat down and said, let's try to make it better. And they did."
Regarding a meeting with U.S. and Russian officials this fall, however, there's a problem. Some of the Russian lawmakers who agreed to come to Washington, D.C., are banned from the U.S.
"One of the things I'm gonna ask the president — I'm gonna talk to the president this weekend — is I'm gonna say, why don't we take people off the list in the legislature," Paul said.
Several Russians have been sanctioned and/or indicted by U.S. officials in recent years, which has been met with much protest from the Kremlin.
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