House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) rejected a request to meet with Russian lawmakers to discuss the situation in Syria, CNN reported Wednesday.
“The Speaker has declined the Russian embassy’s request that he meet with a delegation,” Boehner spokesman Michael Steel told CNN.
Russian President Vladimir Putin supported sending a delegation of lawmakers to lobby Congress to take a more balanced position on the issue. A spokesman for the Russian embassy in Washington told CNN that diplomats sent a formal request to congressional leaders, but did not say which lawmakers would travel with the delegation or when and where the meeting would take place. It’s unclear if any members of Congress have agreed to the meeting.
Boehner announced Tuesday that he would back President Barack Obama’s plan to use limited military strikes against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime.
