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Russia's G20 sherpa says she got US visa for UN General Assembly at the very last moment

Russia's G20 Sherpa Svetlana Lukash said that "this is an outrageous violation of international norms that our delegation was not granted visas" for the UN General Assembly
Russia's G20 sherpa Svetlana Lukash Mikhail Tereshchenko/TASS
Russia's G20 sherpa Svetlana Lukash
© Mikhail Tereshchenko/TASS

THE UNITED NATIONS, September 26. /TASS/. Russia's G20 Sherpa Svetlana Lukash has said that her trip to the UN General Assembly was almost cancelled because she got the US visa at the very last moment.

"Of course, this is an outrageous violation of international norms that our delegation was not granted visas even though they went not even in the framework of bilateral events, but to take part in international events at the UN," Lukash said in response to a TASS question about the situation with several Russian delegates to the UN General Assembly who did not get US visas. "Thankfully, I was lucky, but I got the visa at the very last moment," she added.

"This allowed me to make a speech, but if they delayed it [issuing a visa] for even a little longer, I would have been in solidarity with colleagues who were left behind," Lukash noted.

Ten Russian delegates, including chairman of the Federation Council's International Affairs Committee Konstantin Kosachev, were not granted US visas and thus could not take part in the UN General Assembly session in New York.