Reaction to the incident was mixed : President Dmitry Medvedev , in his public comments at Moscow State University , largely exonerated McFaul by saying that meeting with opposition figures was a routine occurrence , although he warned the new U.S. ambassador that he was on Russian soil and should respect Russian political sensibilities . The incident sparked a highly negative reaction in the state-controlled Russian media , which accused him of conspiring with the opposition . But an article in '' The Daily Beast '' wrote that McFaul 's stance won plaudits from pro-democracy activists and Web-savvy Russian youth and that , " in the tight-knit world of Moscow ’s opposition , McFaul has become something of an Internet celebrity , making him a true 21st-century diplomat . " On July 17 , 2018 , the Prosecutor General of Russia announced that it was seeking to question McFaul , amongst other Americans , in relation to its investigation of allegations made against Bill Browder . This followed a request Vladimir Putin made to President Donald Trump during the summit in Helsinki . In a White House news conference two days later , Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Trump described Putin 's suggestion as an " interesting idea " , but neither rejected it out of hand nor made a firm commitment . On July 19 , shortly before the Senate was to vote on a resolution opposing the idea , Sanders stated that Trump " disagrees " with the Putin proposal . The Senate approved the non-binding " sense of the Senate " resolution on a 98-0 vote ; it stated that no current or former diplomat or other government employee should be made available to the Russians for interrogation
summit in Helsinki
2018 Russia–United States summit
Michael McFaul