A delegation of visiting U.S. lawmakers has offered to assist Russia in securing the Sochi Winter Olympics against a possible terrorist attack.
The lawmakers, who are on a weeklong trip aimed at investigating the Boston bombing and shoring up relations with Russia, made the proposal while meeting with Federation Council senators this week.
"We understand that the Olympic Games will be a target for terrorism. What can the international community and the United States do to help you?" said Bill Keating, a Democrat who represents a district of Massachusetts that includes Boston in the U.S. House of Representatives.
"Do you have any ideas?" he asked the senators, in comments published Thursday in Kommersant.
The threat of a terrorist attack was singled out in a critical report about the February games that opposition leader Boris Nemtsov released Thursday. "A lack of information about the real situation in the North Caucasus prevents a real appreciation of the extent of the terrorist threat," Nemstov wrote in a chapter titled "Risks to the Olympics."
Federation Council senators told the Americans that they appreciated U.S. assistance in the struggle against terrorism on all fronts and especially praised Washington for going after Islamic militants in Afghanistan.
"Today we have one problem — radical Islam — and terrorism has no borders. The main task is to prevent the flow of financing," said Senator Igor Morozov, Kommersant reported.
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