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Russia expects Washington to issue visa to Federation Council speaker

Visa issuance to Valentina Matviyenko has long been discussed in contacts between the Russian Foreign Ministry and representatives of the US administration

© ITAR-TASS/Alexandra Mudrats

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MOSCOW, August 25. /TASS/. Moscow expects Washington to issue a US visa to Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko to take part in the conference of Inter-Parliamentary Union speakers, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a commentary posted on its website on Tuesday.

This visa issue "has acquired the undesirable nature through the fault of the US side," the ministry said.

"The talk is about the participation of a high-ranking Russian delegation in the long-planned international event in New York - the 4th World Conference of Speakers of Parliament," Russia’s Foreign Ministry said.

"It is not clear, on which grounds the US side is creating obstacles for the work of our representatives in a large multilateral forum instead of contributing in every possible way to its normal holding on its territory," the ministry said.

Visa issuance to Russia’s Federation Council Speaker Matviyenko has long been discussed in contacts between the Russian Foreign Ministry and representatives of the US administration, the ministry said.

Read also

Moscow closely watching situation with issuing US visas to Russian senators — Kremlin

In particular, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov emphasized this issue in his talk with US Secretary of State John Kerry in Kuala Lumpur on August 5 and his subsequent telephone conversation with Kerry on August 13.

Despite the promises by the US Secretary of State to give the answer in the coming days, no progress has been made in resolving this issue. High-level representatives of the US Department of State only signal that in principle a visa for the Federation Council speaker’s trip may be issued considering her planned meeting with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

"However, these statements are not backed by any concrete deeds," the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

Tags

Foreign policy Valentina Matviyenko Visa regime

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