A view of the US Congress building[/caption]American lawmakers have praised President Barack Obama after he canceled a planned visit in Moscow next month with Russian President Vladimir Putin as bilateral relations continue to go downhill.
Both Republicans and Democrats hailed Obamas rare diplomatic rebuke and opting not to meet with Putin ahead of the September G20 meeting in St. Petersburg, Russia, which he will still attend, The Hill reports.
The White House announced Wednesday that President Obama had canceled the bilateral summit. The move reflected US anger at Russias decision to grant temporary asylum to National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden who is wanted in the US on espionage charges.
"We have reached the conclusion that there is not enough recent progress in our bilateral agenda with Russia to hold a US-Russia Summit," the White House said in a statement.
Obama had been under pressure from Congress to respond to Moscow over the Snowden case, with some lawmakers going as far as urging the president to move the G20 summit out of Russia.
The president clearly made the right decision, Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) said in a statement Wednesday. President Putin is acting like a school-yard bully and doesnt deserve the respect a bilateral summit would have accorded him.
This should help make clear that the Russian governments giving Edward Snowden refugee status is unacceptable," said Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce (R-Calif.).
Senator John McCain of Arizona repeated his call for an expansion of the Magnitsky Act, which imposes sanctions on Russian officials who, Washington alleges, have been involved in human rights violations.
Senator Lindsey Graham, a hawkish Republican from South Carolina, called on the Obama administration last month to boycott the 2014 Winter Olympics in Russia over Snowden and support for Syria.
Snowden remained holed up in the transit zone of Moscows international airport for more than a month before Russia granted him a one-year asylum last week.
On Tuesday, President Obama accused Russia of having a Cold War mentality and said he was "disappointed" that Moscow gave refuge to the American whistleblower.
"There have been times where they slip back into Cold War thinking and a Cold War mentality," Obama said on NBC's The Tonight Show on Tuesday.
Snowden disclosed to the news media top secret documents he had obtained while working as a contractor for the NSA, showing the spy agency is carrying out massive surveillance on both American citizens and other nationals via phone and the Internet.
In addition to Russia offering asylum to the NSA leaker, US-Russian relations have been severely strained over a host of other issues including the Syrian conflict and Washingtons installing of a missile shield system in Eastern Europe.
By Press TV
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