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RUSSIA-US-UN-DIPLOMACY-POLITICS
Kremlin slams Washington for denying visas to UN delegates
MOSCOW, Sept 24, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – The Kremlin accused Washington Tuesday of
violating its international obligations by denying visas to a Russian
delegation due to attend the UN General Assembly, and threatened “tough
action” in response.
“It’s a worrisome situation, and such actions are not acceptable,”
President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
“This is a direct violation of Washington’s international obligations, this
is not a bilateral visit.”
Washington’s actions called for a “tough reaction” from Moscow, Peskov
said.
He urged the United Nations, which holds the General Assembly at its New
York headquarters, to react as well.
Foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Facebook earlier
Tuesday that “a number of members of the official Russian delegation” had not
received their US visas.
The Russian foreign ministry summoned the deputy head of the US mission in
Moscow and handed him a protest note, Russian media reported.
The US embassy in Moscow did not immediately comment.
Zakharova said Russia’s top diplomat Sergei Lavrov would raise the issue
when he met US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in New York on Friday, on the
sidelines of the UN General Assembly.
Relations between Moscow and Washington are at their lowest level since the
end of the Cold War, battered by accusations of Russian interference in the
2016 US presidential elections.
Although Putin and US President Donald Trump have sought to improve
bilateral ties, they remain strained.
Trump administration officials regularly criticise Moscow for what they say
are its rights violations and policies, particularly towards Ukraine and
Syria.
Earlier this year, Russia denied visas to teachers of the Anglo-American
school in Moscow.
BSS/AFP/RY/1705 hrs