Today, President Biden had his first meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. After their summit, Congressman Chris Stewart (R-UT) released the following statement.
“First, I would like to commend President Biden for raising the issue of human rights with President Putin. I also agree with the fundamental, long-term goal of building a more stable and predictable relationship with Russia. Unfortunately, though, that is not the current state of our relationship. And that won’t change if President Biden continues to avoid the difficult, necessary conversations that must be had with President Putin.
“Today, President Biden said, ‘I told President Putin my agenda is not against Russia or anyone else, it’s for the American people.’ Sounds good. But the American people would likely be more assured if President Biden’s rhetoric matched his decision-making. Most recently, following a Russia-backed cyber terrorist attack on an American pipeline, he lifted sanctions on a Russian pipeline. This is not the kind of message we can send our foreign adversaries, and it’s not the kind of policy that should be imposed on the American people.
“It’s time to be tough on Putin. Russia is funding, training, and protecting cyber-terrorists. Moving forward, President Biden needs to be clear: If American infrastructure, businesses or citizens are attacked, we will strike back.”
