Russia slams US for denying visas to its UN delegates

MOSCOW

Russia has accused the U.S. of violating its international obligations by denying visas to 10 members of Russian delegation, due to attend the UN General Assembly session.

"It is a worrisome situation, and such actions are not acceptable," Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday.

Describing the act as a direct violation of international obligations, he said such actions call for a "tough reaction" from Moscow.

The U.S. Embassy in Moscow had accepted the application of the 10 members of the Russian delegation, but did not return their documents, to allow them to participate in the deliberations of the 74th UN General Assembly session, Peskov told reporters in Moscow.

Separately, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova also confirmed that the visas were not delivered to seven diplomats and three lawmakers, including Chairman of the Committee on International Affairs and Deputy Secretary of the United Russia party Konstantin Kosachev

"This is a direct violation of Washington's international obligations, because we are not going there on a bilateral visit. We are talking about the visit of the Russian delegation to the UN General Assembly. America provides its territory to the UN headquarters, and in fact the only thing that America has the right to do is to limit, for example, to issue city specific visa, say for the New York", Peskov said.

Russia also summoned the U.S. Ambassador John Huntsman to the Foreign Ministry.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will also broach the subject at a meeting with the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, Peskov said.

"This, of course, demands tough reaction from Moscow and, in our opinion, from the UN, because the situation directly concerns the UN and its headquarters," he said.

Describing it a dangerous precedent, Russian official warned that it can be repeated with the representatives of other countries also in future.