Russia has requested fifty-six entry visas for Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his entourage, who will travel to attend the annual General Assembly of the United Nations General Assembly from September 20, but they have not yet received a visa. In a letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres – obtained by Reuters on Friday – Russia’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Vassily Nebenzia described this as “disturbing” because the United States had “consistently refused visas to many other UN events”. During the past seven months. For the Russian delegate who wishes to participate.”
The State Department spokesperson said the United States takes its obligations seriously as the host country of the United Nations. He added that information about visas is confidential under US law, so he could not comment on a specific case.
Under the 1947 United Nations Headquarters Agreement, the United States is generally required to grant visas to foreign diplomats traveling to the United Nations. On the other hand, Washington reserves the right to refuse any visa for “security, terrorism or foreign policy” reasons.
Every year, we issue hundreds of visas to Russian diplomats who travel to attend United Nations events
– The foreign affairs spokesperson said, adding that applications should be submitted on time so that the procedure can be carried out on time.
This is very important because of the unjustified actions against our embassy in Russia, such as the forced termination of the employment of local and third party staff, which reduced our ability to issue visas, the spokesperson said. According to Nebenzja, the necessary forms were delivered to the US Embassy in Moscow. Among the fifty-six visas, Moscow requested entry visas for diplomats preparing for the visit of the foreign minister and the accompanying delegation. Nebenzja said that the journalists accompanying the delegation and the flight crew had not yet received their visas.
UN spokeswoman Eri Kaneko said Guterres and other senior UN officials were in ongoing talks with the United States and Russia about visas.
The United States has banned Russian UN diplomats and Russian diplomats visiting the United Nations from traveling more than 40 kilometers from New York City without prior permission from Washington. In February, the United States imposed sanctions on Foreign Minister Lavrov accused of being “personally responsible for the unjustified and illegal Russian invasion of Ukraine.” According to the sanctions, Lavrov’s American bank accounts were frozen and American citizens were prohibited from doing business with him. In his letter to Guterres, Nebenzga mentioned, among other things, that Russian Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev was not allowed to travel to New York last week to attend the UN police chiefs summit.
Cover photo: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (Photo: MTI/EPA/press Service of the Russian Affairs of Foreign Affairs)
