Putin to US lawmakers: ‘Are you normal?’

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday questioned whether American lawmakers are “normal at all” amid ongoing tensions between Washington and Moscow, according to The New York Times. 

“You are interesting guys,” Putin reportedly said of members of the U.S. Congress during his nearly four-hour annual news conference, which comes ahead of the country’s 2018 presidential election. Putin is largely considered a shoo-in for reelection. 

According to the newspaper, Putin went on to say during his speech that U.S. lawmakers were intelligent, sharply dressed and good-looking, but were “placing us on the same shelf with [North Korea] and Iran while simultaneously pushing Trump toward solving the North Korean and Iran nuclear problems through joint efforts with us. Are you normal at all?”

Congress has leveled repeated sanctions against Moscow since the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014. In Aug. 2017, President Trump grudgingly signed a bill that slapped further sanctions on Russia and limited the White House’s ability to negotiate with Putin. 

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Trump, who has pushed for stronger U.S.-Russia relations and pursued a closer relationship with the Russian president, argued the bill limited his executive power as well as his ability to “strike good deals” for Americans. 

The tensions between the two countries come amid growing fears of regional conflicts involving Iran and North Korea.

Russia has been steadfast in its condemnation of North Korean nuclear aggression, and has consistently urged diplomatic negotiations between U.S. allies and North Korea while discouraging U.S. sanctions aimed to weaken the regime. 

Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs called for the U.S. and other involved nations to “immediately return to dialogue” after the latest round of joint U.S. and South Korean military drills over the Korean peninsula, and assured its “readiness for joint efforts in this direction” on denuclearization.