Russia bars Sen. Johnson
The senator says he’s been denied a visa to visit the country with other lawmakers.
MADISON – Russian government officials denied U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson a visa to enter the country on a trip with other American lawmakers, the senator said Monday.
Johnson, who is chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, suggested the denial was in response to bills he sponsored “that aim to hold Russia accountable for its aggression in Ukraine.”
He said the denial comes as Johnson, a Republican, sought to have direct conversations with Russian government officials to improve future relations with the United States.
“The path Vladimir Putin has chosen for Russia is a tragedy of historic proportions,” Johnson said in a statement. “Unfortunately, Russian officials continue to play diplomatic games with this sincere effort and have denied me entrance to Russia. Regardless of this petty affront, I will continue to advocate a strong and resolute response to Russian aggression — and frank dialogue when possible.”
It’s unclear whether other members of the congressional delegation were granted visas. A spokesman for Johnson did not immediately answer questions. Officials with Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not immediately respond to an email seeking more information about the denial.
Johnson’s office in a news release about the denial said Johnson was one of the lead sponsors of legislation to rename the street in front of the Russian Embassy in Washington, D.C., after Kremlin critic Boris Nemtsov, who was killed in 2015.
Johnson also led a Senate resolution with Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, a Democrat, calling for a multinational response to Russia’s aggression in the Black Sea and urged the cancellation of construction of a natural gas pipeline between Russia and Germany via the Baltic Sea.
After a trip to Moscow in 2018, Johnson also suggested Congress went too far in punishing Russia for interfering in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
“I’ve been pretty upfront that the election interference — as serious as that was, and unacceptable — is not the greatest threat to our democracy,” Johnson told the Washington Examiner. “We’ve blown it way out of proportion.”
But Johnson also said the United States must be vigilant in preventing election interference by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“If this was some great big election interference campaign on the part of Russia to poison our politics, we’re doing Putin’s work for him,” Johnson said in May. “He’s got to be sitting back in the Kremlin with a big ol’ smile on his face going, ‘I can’t believe how effective we’ve been just screwing up American politics.’”
Patrick Marley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel contributed to this report.