Russia says Lavrov has not yet been granted a US visa to visit the United Nations

In a letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres seen by Reuters on Friday, Russia’s UN ambassador Vasilij Nebenzia said it was “dangerous” because Washington had “denied entry visas” to several Russian delegations in recent months. Other UN events.

The U.S. takes its obligations as a host nation to the U.N. seriously, a State Department spokeswoman said, adding that visa files are confidential under U.S. law, so they cannot comment on individual cases.

Under the 1947 UN “Seats Agreement”, the United States is generally obligated to provide foreign diplomats with access to the United Nations. But Washington says it can deny visas for “security, terrorism and foreign policy reasons”.

“We process hundreds of visas every year for delegates to United Nations events from the Russian Federation,” a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said, adding that applications must be submitted as soon as possible to ensure timely processing.

“Most importantly, Russia’s unwarranted actions against our embassy in Russia, including forced layoffs of local and third-country staff, have severely reduced our staffing levels and thus our ability to process visas,” the spokesperson said. .

Nebenzia said the necessary applications have been submitted to the US Embassy in Moscow.

A spokesman for Guterres did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Russia’s letter.

Russian UN to travel within 25 miles (40 km) of New York City without Washington’s prior approval The United States has long barred the visit of diplomats and Russian representatives.

In February, Washington imposed sanctions on Lavrov, accusing him of being “directly responsible for Russia’s unprovoked and illegal further aggression in Ukraine.” The sanctions freeze assets that Lavrov may own in the United States and generally prohibit Americans from doing business with him.

Moscow has applied for 56 visas, covering an advance group of diplomats in preparation for the visit of Lavrov and his delegation to a high-level meeting of the UN General Assembly in New York on September 20. the beginning.

Nebenzia added that journalists accompanying Lavrov and the flight crew had not yet been issued US visas.

In a letter to Nebenzia Guterres, citing some recent visa issues, Russian Interior Minister Vladimir Golokoltsev said he would not be able to travel to New York this week for a summit of UN police chiefs.

He said representatives of Russian law enforcement agencies were also unable to attend this week’s UN event on countering the use of information and communication technologies for criminal purposes.

“We urge once again the US authorities to immediately issue the visas they have requested to accompanying persons, including Russian representatives and Russian journalists,” Nebenzia wrote to Guterres.