Russian lawmakers “don’t understand why” the 2016 cyberattacks against the Democratic Party sparked an array of U.S. sanctions, a senior Republican lawmaker said after meetings in Moscow.

“There is a total disconnect on their part, Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., chairman of the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, told the Washington Examiner. "They don't understand why their election interference has been blown up into such an issue. They don't really have a clue, based on their perspective, of why the American public so supports punishing sanctions against them because of the election interference.”

Johnson was among the Republicans to traveled to Moscow over the Independence Day holiday for meetings with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and various lawmakers. The participants spent most of their time trading accusations about election interference, but the trip might give rise to a regular round of “legislator-to-legislator” meetings. Vyacheslav Volodin, chairman of the lower chamber of Russia’s parliament, floated the idea of a “task force” between the two sides.

Johnson jumped on the phrase. “Identify half-a-dozen legislators on both sides that meet on a regular basis, develop a relationship, so you can really have an agenda — 'ok, now we're going to talk about Iran,’” he said.

[Also read: Trump declares victory over 'Democrat crazies' in hacked emails suit dimissed on technicality]

This week’s meetings were dominated by the controversy over the 2016 elections and the risk of future interference. The Russians in discussions with Johnson denied involvement, of course, but they seemed to argue that such things are all in the game when it comes to U.S.-Russia rivalry.

“We would bring it up, and they would push back with all the ways we interfere with their politics in terms of funding of NGOs, and Radio Free Europe and Voice of America," Johnson said. "We pushed back hard. I think they're certainly on notice that there should be no meddling in 2018.”

Johnson, who also chairs the Foreign Relations subcommittee for Europe, thinks that the legislative meetings could minimize the potential for diplomatic conflict, just as military-to-military contacts between the two sides has helped avoid a clash in Syria.

“It’d make sense for me to kind of spearhead this thing and establish this task force, I'm happy to do it,” he said. “But again, I want to do it within the structure of the State Department as well. I'm not going to go out and freelance this thing. I want to do this in total coordination and concert with the administration.”

That won’t take place at all if the Russians target the midterms. “That's just an acid-test,” he said.