Several Arkansas Republican legislators have commented after President Donald Trump's press conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Senator John Boozman said on Twitter that he agreed with the assessment of United States intelligence agencies and the Senate Intelligence Committee that "Russia intervened in the 2016 election."
"I agree w/ their assessment & believe our relationship w/ Russia must consistently be viewed through this lens," Boozman tweeted. "Russia is not our friend."
Representative Steve Womack said he was "disappointed" that Trump "downplayed the very real threat Russia poses to our country and our values."
Senator Tom Cotton released a statement, saying the reason the relationship between the United States and Russia "remains at a historic low" is that "Vladimir Putin is a committed adversary of the United States."
"In the last few years alone, Russia meddled in our presidential campaign, violated arms-control treaties with the United States, invaded Ukraine, assassinated political opponents in the United Kingdom, made common cause with Iran in propping up Bashar al-Assad's outlaw regime in Syria, and cheated not only in the Olympics, but even in the Paralympics," Cotton said.
Cotton went on to say that these are not the actions of "a friend, an ally, or merely a nation with aligned interests."
"Strength is the one language for which Vladimir Putin needs no interpreter," Cotton said.
In a press release, Rep. French Hill said that Russia has "engaged in propaganda and political shenanigans in Western democracies" and that "their efforts in the U.S. elections in 2016 were no different."
He said that Trump "missed an opportunity" to make it known to Putin that "the United States does not believe Russian denials about meddling in our 2016 elections and that America will not stand for interference of this kind."
"We continue to call upon the current administration to counter Russia's political and military actions in Syria, the Middle East, and the Ukraine, and to hold Russia accountable for their attempts to meddle in U.S. and European elections," Hill said.
