A plan to send a delegation of Russian lawmakers to Washington to lobby members of Congress against military intervention in Syria has been cancelled, the speaker of Russia’s parliament said Friday.
State Duma Speaker Sergei Naryshkin called U.S. lawmakers’ refusal to meet with the delegation deplorable, according to CBS News, stating the lawmakers would no longer make the trip to the U.S.
House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) rejected the delegation’s request to meet on Capitol Hill. A spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), Adam Jentleson, confirmed Thursday that Reid had also rejected the request, according to CBS News.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, who supported sending the delegation, has said the idea that U.S. evidence could show Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime used chemical weapons against rebel soldiers is “utter nonsense.”
