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| Russia Urges UN to put Pressure on US |
Moscow - Russia's permanent representative at the UN, Vassily Nebenzia, asked the organization to persuade the United States to grant visas to members of the Moscow delegation to the UN General Assembly. They are heading to New York for a high-level public debate to be held between September 20 and 26.
The request was made in a letter Nebenzia forwarded to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday. The document has been seen by Russian and Western media. In his message, the envoy pointed out that, with less than three weeks remaining before the General Assembly, not a single member of the Russian delegation has received entry visas from the US.
The Russian side, led by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, has submitted the relevant application to attend the event to the American embassy in Moscow, the diplomat said. "This is even more worrying because, over the past few months, US authorities have persistently refused to grant entry visas to a number of Russian delegates assigned to take part in official UN events," the letter said.
Earlier this week, Nebenzia pointed out that Russian Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev and his delegation were unable to attend a meeting of UN police chiefs because the US refused to grant them visas. The Russian envoy cited the 1947 agreement between the United Nations and the United States, which stated “a visa will be granted free of charge and as quickly as possible regardless of the relationship that exists between the government of the persons in question and the US government.
Already tense relations between Moscow and Washington have worsened since the launch of Russia's military operation in Ukraine. The US has imposed tough economic sanctions on Russia while supporting Kiev and providing billions of dollars in military aid and intelligence.
Nebenzia urged Guterres, "To emphasize once again to the US authorities that they must immediately issue the requested visas to all the Russian delegation and accompanying persons, including the Russian journalists covering Lavrov's trip to the General Assembly."