There should be no chance for peace – the United States is now getting harder by not granting visas to the Russian delegation to the UN General Assembly

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 UN Vassily Nebenzia described this as “disturbing” because the US “has consistently refused to grant visas to many other UN events”. In the past seven months. For the Russian delegate who would like to participate.” The US State Department spokesperson said the US takes its obligations seriously as the UN host country. He added that visa-related information 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 due to the unjustified actions against our embassy in Russia, such as the forced termination of employment of local staff and workers from other countries, which reduced our ability to issue visas.

said the speaker. 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. 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.

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.

Source: MTI; Photo: MTI / EPA / Press service of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs