The White House explained the refusal to issue visas to Russian journalists

The United States supports the freedom and independence of the press, in connection with this, Russian media journalists did not receive visas to visit the UN headquarters in New York. This statement was made by White House strategic communications coordinator John Kirby on the air of the morning show on CNN.

“Russian state media are propaganda organs. We consider it important to uphold the freedom of the press, the independence of the press, which should be free to do its job,” he said (quote according to RIA Novosti).

Earlier today in New York arrived Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Sergey Lavrov to participate in the meetings of the Security Council as chairman, which will be held on April 25 and 26. In particular, on April 25, Lavrov will chair an open ministerial-level debate in the UN Security Council on resolving the situation in the Middle East.

The minister’s trip was complicated by the US delay in issuing visas to the Russian delegation. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation reported that the documents had been received only on April 17. At the same time, visas were never issued to journalists from the Lavrov pool.

April 19 at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs declaredthat the US is required to issue visas to Russian journalists to cover the Minister’s participation in the UN Security Council, stressing that they are also part of the Russian delegation. By words Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, the Russian journalists who arrived at the airport did not receive American visas.

In this regard, Lavrov named US behavior is ugly and accused Washington of cowardice. Permanent Mission of Russia to the UN urged organization to respond to US actions.