“I was honored to deliver a letter from President Donald J. Trump to President Vladimir Putin’s administration,” Rand Paul says. | Bryan Woolston/AP Photo Rand Paul delivers letter from Trump to Putin

Sen. Rand Paul on Wednesday delivered a letter from President Donald Trump to Russia President Vladimir Putin that "emphasized the importance of further engagement" between the two leaders.

“I was honored to deliver a letter from President Donald J. Trump to President Vladimir Putin’s administration,” Paul said in a statement, which also noted that the letter was given to representatives for Putin, who has been out of Moscow all week.


The letter highlighted how the U.S. wants to continue to work together with Russia on "countering terrorism, enhancing legislative dialogue and resuming cultural exchanges," Paul said.

Paul emerged as one of the few prominent defenders of Trump after his controversial summit with Putin in Helsinki last month, during which Trump publicly sided with the Russian president over U.S. intelligence agencies regarding Russian meddling in the 2016 election.

As an outspoken non-interventionist, Paul praised Trump's willingness to engage with Putin and said at the time that he would travel to Russia in early August to play shuttle diplomacy for Trump.

On Wednesday, White House deputy press secretary Hogan Gidley said in a statement that it was Paul who had requested Trump to provide "a letter of introduction."

"In the letter, the President mentioned topics of interest that Senator Paul wanted to discuss with President Putin," Gidley said.

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Paul has been visiting Moscow this week where he met with Russian officials, in addition to visiting the U.S. embassy in the city. On Monday, Paul announced that Russian lawmakers have agreed to visit the U.S. Capitol, which would be the first time in almost three years that an official Russian delegation has visited the U.S. Capitol.

Paul was the latest lawmaker to travel to Russia, as a group seven GOP senators and one House member visited Russia over the July 4 holiday week, just two weeks before Trump and Putin's meeting.

The letter also comes after Putin publicly announced late last month that he invited Trump to Russia for another face-to-face meeting.

Trump had initially invited Putin to Washington D.C. this fall, but the White House later announced it was delaying a second meeting between the two leaders.