A new confirmation indicates that Kremlin has already received the invitation from US President Donald J. Trump for Russian Head of State, Vladimir Putin, to visit Washington. Meanwhile, Republicans are making it clear that they won't be rolling the red carpet for the Russian leader.
According to reports, the state-visit invite from Trump has already reached Moscow and Putin agreed to meet his counterpart at the end of the year.
Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov further hinted to the press that the Washington visit may not be the only time for Trump and Putin to come face-to-face.
"Maybe there will be other international events which Trump and Putin will take part in," the Russian official said.
The statement does suggest that there's a possibility for the two to convene at the upcoming G20 summit in Argentina, this November.
G20 or the Group of Twenty is an annual international forum that puts focus on global economic and trade issues. Russia and USA are among the key member states of the summit.
As stated in an earlier report, Trump is looking forward for his second meeting with Putin wherein they can "start implementing some of the many things discussed" during the US-Russia Helsinki summit, earlier this July.
Meanwhile, it looks like Trump's camp may not have the same level of enthusiasm felt towards the official visit.
Via CNN, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky told the press that the Republican congressional leaders won't welcome the Russian leader to the Capitol.
"Russian President Vladimir Putin, accused of interfering in U.S. elections, will not be invited to address Congress or visit the Capitol if he accepts President Donald Trump's invitation to come to Washington," a joint statement from the GOP congressional leaders reads.
House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin went on to add that he's got no qualms to whoever Trump sits with, just as long as the head of state puts forth the welfare of the country first.
"...what I think matters is the message. And if the message is stopped meddling in our country, stop violating our sovereignty, then I support that. But it's the message that counts," Rep. Ryan said.
This recent row of criticisms follows after Trump's earlier press scuffle at Helsinki when he cleared out Russia's involvement in the 2016 US Presidential Election.
Trump's critics in the Democrat party called his Helsinki press performance a "traitorous" act.
In a succeeding event, Trump released a later statement clarifying his comments about the Kremlin, saying that he only misspoke what he meant to say.
