Bi-partisan US Congressional Delegation Participates in Russian Valdai Discussion Club

For the first time in three years, a U.S. Congressional delegation has sought to re-establish an international dialogue with Russia, with a visit by a five-member, bi-partisan group, to the Russian Valdai Discussion Club on Sunday, April 3. Led by California Republican Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, the group included fellow Republican French Hill (AR) along with Democrats David Cicilline (RI), Brian Higgins (NY), and Juan Vargas (CA). Rohrabacher is—along with Higgins and Cicilline — a member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, and chairman of their Subcommittee on Europe, Eurasia and Emerging Threats. His number one concern: stopping the spread of ISIS.

In stark contrast to the neocon media (as well as his Democratic counterparts’) portrayal of Russia as a neo-imperial force threatening Europe, Rohrabacher — who characterized these reports as “bizarre and out of touch” — talked down the Obama-boosted, billion-dollar European Reassurance Initiative, saying that, “There is no threat that I can see of a major military incursion by Russia into Europe. A much greater threat to Europe now is radical Islamic terrorism, and in that battle we should be working with Russia rather than try to base our policies on thwarting Russia,” according to a prominent posting on the Valdai website. He told his Russian hosts, “Our fight against the radical Islamic terrorism is not even halfway over, and it’s going to become more dangerous in the years ahead,” adding that, “If there is anything that can help us, that will further our efforts to defeat radical Islamic terrorism … then it will be the cooperation between our countries.”

Concluding his presentation, Rohrabacher strongly defended the Russian state, saying, “We’ve got to get the word out that Russia is a strong modern nation. When the president of Russia moves forward to do something in the interests of his country, it should be seen as the president of this country watching out for the interests of his people.” Then, in words that could only endear himself to Putin, he took an implicit swing at Obama, adding, “I wish we had a president that was watching out as much for our interests as Russia has a president watching out for theirs.”

Valdai, a mountain retreat half-way between Moscow and St. Petersberg, was founded in 2004 by the Russian International Affairs Council, a joint project of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Education and Science, with the stated goal of “promot[ing] dialogue between Russian and international intellectual elite.”