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Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson said Thursday that he and others in a congressional delegation to Moscow put Russians on notice not to interfere with the 2018 midterm elections.
Johnson was in the group of congressional Republicans that traveled this week to Moscow for talks with Russian lawmakers.
Johnson said Russia's meddling in the 2016 U.S. elections was "brought up constantly by multiple senators."
"The point was made," Johnson said. "I think they are very well aware of the fact that a way to blow up this first step would be to interfere in the 2018 elections.
"They were very well put on notice that we're not buying what they're saying. That we're basically issuing, let me be kind here, guidance that it would not be smart to be caught meddling in 2018. I think they got the message. There's no way they couldn't have had."
The Washington Post reported the Republicans "sounded a newly conciliatory tone" in the talks that were held ahead of President Donald Trump's July 16 summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki, Finland.
U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) led the delegation. Johnson said he was only "cleared" to go on the trip last week, left for Moscow on Sunday and returned to Wisconsin Thursday.
Late last year, Johnson and fellow Republican Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming called off a planned trip to Moscow after Russia denied a visa to Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire.
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Johnson said relations between the U.S. and Russia are "strained."
"I've been saying for a long time that I wish Russia was no worse than a friendly rival as opposed to an unfriendly adversary," he said. "I don't want it to degrade to the enemy category."
"Right now, we're adversaries, there's no two ways about it," he said.
But Johnson was hopeful that a process could be started for "an ongoing dialogue to find individuals so we can actually find relationships."
"Those on-going personal relationships can be crucial in uncertain times," he said.
"My takeaway there was a sincere desire on both sides to improve relationships," he added.
Johnson, who chairs the European subcommittee of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, defended the trip that saw the U.S. lawmakers in Moscow over July 4th.
"This is an important relationship," he said. "Russia is not going away."
He added, "The main reason you go there is to understand their perspective."
This was Johnson's first trip Moscow, which he described as "a modern, well-maintained European city. There was nothing shabby about it."
He said there was "no evidence" that international sanctions were having an effect on the Russian economy. But he said Russia is rankled by sanctions on individuals, "targeting the oligarchs, their legislators."
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