Though no invitation has been offered to Russian President Vladimir Putin to address lawmakers when he is expected to visit Washington, D.C., later this year, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi says he won't be welcome in Congress, The Hill reported Saturday.
"The notion that President Trump would invite a tyrant to Washington is beyond belief," Pelosi said in a statement on Friday, also referring to Putin as a "thug."
"Putin's ongoing attacks on our elections and on Western democracies and his illegal actions in Crimea and the rest of Ukraine deserve the fierce, unanimous condemnation of the international community, not a VIP ticket to our nation's capital," Pelosi said.
"President Trump's frightened fawning over Putin is an embarrassment, and a grave threat to our democracy. An invitation to address a Joint Meeting of Congress should be bipartisan and Speaker Ryan must immediately make clear that there is not – and never will be – an invitation for a thug like Putin to address the United States Congress," she added.
On Thursday, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders tweeted that discussions were "already underway" for a visit by Putin to Washington in the fall following an invitation by Trump.
A spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Congress had issued "no invitation" to Putin and a spokesman for House Speaker Paul Ryan echoed the sentiment saying, "The only one talking about inviting Putin to address Congress is Nancy Pelosi."
Trump angered Democrats and some members of his own party during his summit with Putin on Monday in Helsinki where he appeared to side with Putin over claims of Russian involvement in the 2016 U.S. presidential election while downplaying assessments made by his own intelligence agencies.
The issue caused the White House to go into damage control and Trump reversed his statement on Tuesday, saying he did acknowledge reports from U.S. intelligence agencies regarding Russia's meddling in the 2016 elections.