Zakharova threatened the United States with a response in case of non-issuance of visas to journalists

Russia will not leave without reaction the actions of the United States in case of repeated refusal of visas to Russian journalists to cover the events of the UN General Assembly in September. This was announced by the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova during a briefing. The broadcast was on the department’s VKontakte page.

“This is a flagrant violation of all norms of domestic, international legislation,” she said.

Zakharova said it was “an unacceptable violation of international law.” She added that a possible repetition of the situation with visas “will not remain without a serious reaction” from Moscow.

Washington has such a problem on a regular basis, Zakharova noted. According to her, the United States does not issue visas not only to journalists, but also to diplomats, parliamentarians, athletes, etc. to other countries.”

The high-level week of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly will begin in New York on 19 September. The Russian delegation will be headed by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

In April 2023, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported difficulties in obtaining visas for the Russian delegation to participate in the events of the UN Security Council on April 24 and 25. Then Russia chaired the UN Security Council. According to Zakharova, the diplomats received the documents only on April 17. At the same time, visas were never issued to journalists from the Lavrov pool.

Head of the Russian Foreign Ministry named US behavior is ugly and accused Washington of cowardice. At the White House explained refusal to support the freedom and independence of the press. Later State Department informedthat the United States issued about 100 visas to citizens of the Russian Federation, including journalists, in connection with Lavrov’s participation in the events of the UN Security Council.