Moscow “will not forgive” the United States for refusing to issue visas to Russian journalists accompanying the head of Russian diplomacy, Sergey Lavrov, Monday and Tuesday at the UN, said Sunday the minister before his departure for New York.
“We will not forget, we will not forgive,” warned Mr. Lavrov to the press, denouncing a “cowardly” decision by Washington.
Russia holds the rotating presidency of the UN Security Council this month, in the midst of a military offensive in Ukraine for which it has been banned from world nations.
“A country that calls itself the smartest, the strongest, the freest, the fairest has chickened out and even done something stupid,” Lavrov lamented, joking that the United States , by refusing to give visas to Russian journalists, had shown, according to him, “what (their) statements on freedom of expression are worth”.
His Deputy Minister Sergei Riabkov had earlier indicated on Sunday that despite “contacts on several occasions in recent days” at Moscow’s initiative, Washington “has not issued visas” to “journalists supposed to accompany Mr. Lavrov in his move” to the United States.
Mr. Riabkov castigated “a scandalous and absolutely unacceptable method” on the part of the Americans, denouncing “a mockery” of the United States which, according to him, “pretended to work” to “find a solution”.
“We will find forms of response to this, so that Americans will remember for a long time that this is not happening. And they will remember it,” he further warned.
A diplomatic source, quoted by the Russian news agency Ria Novosti, thus claimed that in retaliation, “there is no doubt that American journalists (in Russia) will experience all the discomfort and inconvenience, and a similar attitude from the Russian authorities.
Asked by AFP, the US State Department said it routinely issues visas to Russian delegates for UN events but pointed to restrictions on US embassy staff in Moscow, reduced to a trickle since the start of the military offensive in Ukraine, to explain the processing times.
“We process hundreds of visas each year for Russian delegates to UN events. To ensure timely processing, we regularly remind the Russian Mission to the UN — as we are doing with all other missions at the UN–that the United States needs to (receive the) requests as soon as possible,” a State Department spokesperson said in a statement.
“This is particularly important because of Russia’s unwarranted actions towards our embassy in Russia,” he added.
The spokesperson also indicated that he could not discuss the issue of “individual visa applications” in more detail due to US data privacy laws.
Since the beginning of the Russian intervention in Ukraine, the conditions for issuing accreditations to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Moscow, on which visas depend, have already been greatly tightened.
This new episode of tension between Moscow and Washington comes three weeks after the arrest of an American journalist in Russia, Evan Gershkovich, suspected of “espionage” by the Russian authorities, which the United States and the person concerned categorically refute .
Asked moreover about a possible meeting at the beginning of the week between Sergei Lavrov and his American counterpart, Antony Blinken, Mr. Riabkov declared that “that is not part of the plans” at this stage.
Mr. Lavrov’s last visit to the United Nations in New York was last September, during the General Assembly. On Monday, he is to meet with the head of the UN, Antonio Guterres, before chairing a session of debates on the Middle East the next day.
04/23/2023 19:03:20 – Moscow (AFP) – © 2023 AFP
