The Russian Foreign Ministry demanded the launch of arbitration due to the delay in issuing US visas to diplomats

Deputy head of the Russian delegation Konstantin Vorontsov, at a meeting of the first committee of the UN General Assembly, demanded the launch of arbitration against the United States due to the late issuance of visas to members of the delegation to participate in consultations of the “nuclear five”, writes “RIA News”.

“We demand the immediate launch of an arbitration procedure in relation to the country where the UN headquarters is located. The situation is outrageous, since visas were not issued within the requested time frame to those members of our delegation who are supposed to participate, among other things, in the meeting of experts from the nuclear five countries, organized by Russia as a coordinator on the sidelines of the first committee,” Vorontsov said.

According to him, the US actions led to the disruption of the meeting and were an attempt to undermine Russia’s chairmanship in this international format.

Previously, Deputy Head of the Russian Foreign Ministry Sergei Ryabkov reportedthat as of October 3, no visas had been issued to members of the Russian delegation to participate in the Nuclear Five consultations at the UN in New York. Kommersant wrote that two people did not receive visas, including a diplomat who was supposed to lead the Russian delegation at the consultations. Later on October 4, Ryabkov clarified that they had been extradited.

The “nuclear five” include Russia, the USA, China, France and the UK. In June, experts from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Defense of these countries in Cairo discussed strategic risk reduction and nuclear doctrines. The State Department then clarified that the consultations were organized by the United States, which “chairs the dialogue between the five nuclear powers.”