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Agence France-Presse

US President Donald Trump rejected on Thursday a proposal by Vladimir Putin to allow Russian officials to interrogate a former US ambassador and other American citizens, amid outrage across Washington that he would even consider it.
While Trump originally called the idea an “incredible offer”, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said he has now decided against it.
“It is a proposal that was made in sincerity by President Putin, but President Trump disagrees with it,” Sanders said.
Putin unveiled the proposal at a joint press conference with Trump on Monday following their summit meeting in Helsinki, Finland.

Asked whether he would extradite 12 Russian intelligence agents indicted in the United States last week for hacking Democratic Party computers, he said he could meet the US government “halfway”.
“We can actually permit official representatives of the United States … into the country and they will be present at this questioning” of the 12 inside Russia.
“Then we would expect that the Americans would reciprocate and they would question officials, including the officers of law enforcement and intelligence services of the United States … who have something to do with illegal actions on the territory of Russia, and we have to request the presence of our law enforcement.”
For Russia, the focus of the quid-pro-quo was questioning former US envoy to Russia Michael McFaul and 11 others in Moscow’s case against billionaire investor William Browder, the driving force behind Magnitsky Act sanctions on Russian officials passed by the US Congress.

“I think that’s an incredible offer,” Trump responded in Helsinki.
McFaul expressed outrage on Wednesday when Sanders said Trump was “going to meet with his team” to consider Putin’s proposal.
But on Thursday Sanders made clear a deal with Putin was not in the cards.
“Hopefully President Putin will have the 12 identified Russians come to the United States to prove their innocence or guilt,” said Sanders.



“It’s not going to happen,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo echoed late on Thursday. “There were suggestions, comments, thoughts by President Putin with respect to that inquiry. President Trump was very clear we’re not going to force Americans to go to Russia to be interrogated by the Russians.”
The indictments issued last week by special counsel Robert Mueller claim that the alleged Russian hackers publicly released tens of thousands of stolen Democratic emails and documents using “fictitious online personas”.
Mueller is investigating possible collusion between Trump’s campaign and Russia.

Sanders made the statement just as the US Senate took up a resolution objecting to any move by the Trump administration to make US officials available for questioning by Russian government officials.
In a sharp rebuke to the White House, the resolution passed with unanimous support from both parties, 98-0.
“Let this resolution be a warning to the administration that Congress will not allow this to happen,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.


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United States

Trump rejects Putin’s proposal to let Russia interrogate US citizens

US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin arrive for a meeting on Monday in Helsinki, Finland. Photo: AFP

(180717) -- BEIJING, July 17, 2018 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump (L) meets with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Helsinki, Finland, on July 16, 2018. (Xinhua/Lehtikuva/Heikki Saukkomaa) (wtc)

FILE - In this May 15, 2013 file photo, U.S. Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul leaves the Foreign Ministry in Moscow, Russia. A memoir by the former U.S. ambassador, whom Russian officials have said they want to interview, is in the top 10 on Amazon.com. McFaul’s “From Cold War to Hot Peace: An American Ambassador in Putin’s Russia” was No. 6 as of midday Thursday. The book was published in May. (AP Photo/Misha Japaridze, File)

Senate Minority Leader Sen. Charles Schumer of N.Y., calls on a reporter following a Democratic policy luncheon on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2017. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

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US President Donald Trump listens during a cabinet meeting on Wednesday. Photo: Agence France-Presse

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FILE - In this July 16, 2018, file photo, U.S. President Donald Trump, left, and Russian President Vladimir Putin arrive for a press conference after their meeting at the Presidential Palace in Helsinki, Finland. If Donald Trump is serious about his public courtship of Vladimir Putin, he may want to take pointers from one of the Russian leader's longtime suitors: Chinese President Xi Jinping. In this political love triangle, Putin and Xi are tied by strategic need and a rare dose of personal affection, while Trump's effusive display in Helsinki showed him as an earnest admirer of the man leading a country long considered America's adversary. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, File)

Russian President Vladimir Putin receives China’s first ‘friendship medal’ from Chinese President Xi Jinping on June 8. Xi has called Putin his ‘most intimate friend’. Photo: pool via AP

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US President Donald Trump with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Photo: Xinhua

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US President Donald Trump speaks about his summit meeting in Finland with Russia's President Vladimir Putin at the start of a meeting with members of the US Congress at the White House in Washington on Tuesday. Photo: Reuters

Trump rejects Putin’s proposal to let Russia interrogate US citizens

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Decision comes after lawmakers complained about the idea

Decision comes after lawmakers complained about the idea