'Scandalous situation': Russians were not given a visa to participate in the UN General Assembly in New York

Ten members of the Russian delegation, including a member of the Federation Council, Konstantin Kosachev, did not receive American visas on time for participation in the UN General Assembly and did not fly to the United States, Kosachev said. He was going to New York, although he is under sanctions, writes Air force.

Фото: Depositphotos

“In violation of its obligations to the international community, the American side did not issue visas on time for a number of members of the official delegation, including me,” the senator said. He called it "an outrageous action that has no explanation or justification."

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that the American side “allegedly refers to the technical nature of the problem,” namely the deadlines for submitting documents.

“The documents were submitted within the deadlines specified by the American diplomats themselves,” says Zakharova. — The documents that were submitted for registration earlier, a couple of months before departure, were returned with the wording “submitted early.”

The delegation was supposed to accompany Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, writes Kommersant. According to the publication, Kosachev arrived together with Lavrov at the government airport Vnukovo-2, from where the Foreign Minister’s plane will fly to the United States.

On the subject: How to get a visa in the United States after refusal

According to Kosachev, he did not receive a visa, as did the head of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs, Leonid Slutsky, and eight employees of the Russian Foreign Ministry. Visas were not denied - it’s just that the members of the delegation did not return their passports on time; they are now at the embassy, ​​Kommersant quotes the senator.

“The situation is scandalous. Of course, there will be tough steps from the Foreign Ministry,” Kosachev told the publication. “The Americans are radically violating their obligations as the host country of the UN and as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, which bears special responsibility for ensuring the work of the entire organization.”

What the embassy says

The US embassy called the visa denial to members of the Russian delegation a special case and declined to comment.

“According to our rules, we do not comment on individual cases of applying for a US visa,” Interfax quotes the response from the diplomatic mission’s press service.

Moscow reaction

State Duma Vice-Speaker Petr Tolstoy proposed replacing American diplomats who did not issue visas to members of the Russian delegation.

“Russia’s response must be as tough as possible; we must remind our American partners that this is not about a visit to the United States, but about a trip to the session of the General Assembly,” Tolstoy told reporters. “If they haven’t figured this out, then it seems to me that some of the staff at the US Embassy in Russia need to be replaced with those who understand the intricacies of this.”

On the subject: The main reasons for refusing a US visa

In the meantime, the deputy head of the US diplomatic mission in Russia has been protested, said Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov.

“This is a direct violation of international obligations by Washington, because we are not talking about a bilateral visit, we are talking about the visit of the Russian delegation to the UN General Assembly,” сказал Press Secretary of the President of Russia Dmitry Peskov.

He also said that Russian diplomats are currently working on a solution to the problem, the US ambassador was invited by the Kremlin, and the Russian embassy in Washington is also taking action.

What about sanctions?

Kosachev and Slutsky are under American sanctions. Kosachev was listed on the April 6 2018 sanctions list. In May of 2018, he complained of sanctions to the Inter-Parliamentary Union, which is headquartered in Geneva.

On the subject: The United States may limit the issuance of visas for grooms and brides

Around the same time, Kosachev announced that the United States annulled his annual UN visa (UN), which did not allow him to take part in UN events in the United States. The Russian Foreign Ministry then sent a request to the American authorities with a request to apply for a single-entry visa for the participation of the Russian senator in a meeting of the UN General Assembly.

Kosachev said that the United States should not extend sanctions to UN activities.

In August, US senators Ron Johnson and Chris Murphy were denied Russian visas. Kosachev then stated that adding Johnson and Murphy to the Russian stop list should be considered “a forced reaction to American personal sanctions, including against parliamentarians.”

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