«However, the United States believes that everyone has a right to be heard.»
The White House Monday offered congratulations on behalf of President Donald Trump to Russian President Vladimir Putin for being sworn in for a new six-year term on Monday.
“The president congratulates [Putin] and looks forward to the time when we can hopefully have a good relationship with Russia,” White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters after being asked about Putin’s new term and Russia reportedly arresting hundreds of opposition protesters.
“However, the United States believes that everyone has a right to be heard,” Sanders added.
Press Sec. Sanders on Putin’s election to a 4th term: “The president congratulates him and looks forward to a time when we can hopefully have a good relationship with Russia.” pic.twitter.com/V3RTc1TkQM
— NBC News (@NBCNews) May 7,2018
While Trump spent Monday morning firing off tweets on a number of topics, the president has yet to comment on Putin’s new term or the protesters who were arrested.
In April, Trump reportedly invited Putin to visit the White House during a phone call congratulating the Russian president on his election victory.
“He returned to this topic a couple of times, so we let our American colleagues know that we do not want to impose, but we also do not want to be impolite and that considering that President Trump made this proposal, we proceed from the position that he will make it concrete,” Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.
Trump has maintained that he’s put pressure on Russia despite wanting to improve international relations between the two countries. “Russia will tell you, there has been nobody tougher than Donald Trump,” Trump said.
On Saturday, Russian officials arrested nearly 1,600 opposition demonstrators, with many of them chanting “Putin is a thief” and “Russia will be free.”
“I think that Putin isn’t worthy of leading this country. He has been doing it for 18 years and has done nothing good for it,” one Moscow demonstrator told the Associated Press. “He should leave for good.”
William is a Senior Congressional and Breaking News Reporter for IJR. Prior to that, he covered politics and breaking news at AOL.com, leading the sit… more
