Russia’s State Duma is open to dialogue with US legislators, but currently the inter-parliamentary contacts between the two countries have been reduced almost to zero, State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin said at a meeting with the visiting US congressional delegation.
He noted that this is the first US congressional delegation visiting the State Duma over the years. "Therefore, we have a lot of issues to talk about, considering that our relations within the parliamentary dimension have practically been reduced to zero," Volodin said, adding that he hoped today’s meeting "will mark the beginning of these relations."
"We proceed from the assumption that you initiated this meeting. In light of that, I want to emphasize your role. I believe it will also be appropriate to emphasize the role of Mr. [Jon] Huntsman, the US Ambassador to Russia," he noted. "As far as I know, the inter-parliamentary dialogue was his initiative," TASS cited him as saying.
Volodin also hoped that today’s conversation would lay the foundation for such meetings in the future to make sure they are meaningful.