“You know I think engagement with our adversaries,” Paul said on CNN, “conversation with our adversaries is a good idea.”

“Even in the height of the Cold War,” he continued, “maybe at the lowest ebb when were in the midst of the Cuban Missile Crisis, I think it was a good thing that [President John] Kennedy had a direct line with [Russian Premier] Khrushchev.”

“I think it was a good thing that we continued to have ambassadors to Russia even when we really objected greatly to what was going on, even during Stalin’s regime,” he added. “So I think that it is a good idea to have engagement, and I think that what is lost in this, is that I think there’s a bit of ‘Trump derangement syndrome.’”