MOSCOW, August 25. /TASS/. The United States may limit the US visa for Russia’s Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko solely to her participation in the UN events, a representative of the US Embassy in Russia said on Tuesday.
The United States keeps the right to limit the US visa to participation in the events that have direct relation to the United Nations Organization, the US Embassy in Russia said.
The United States is committed to fulfilling its obligations as a country on whose territory the UN is located, the embassy said.
The US Embassy in Russia has been in contact with the Russian Foreign Ministry on the issue of giving a visa to Federation Council Speaker Matviyenko and has informed the ministry that the visa will be ready within the next day, the US Embassy representative said.
The US Embassy in Russia also emphasized the correctness of Russian media reports that "the Inter-Parliamentary Union is not a UN body and, correspondingly, the obligations of the host country do not apply to its events."
Matviyenko who heads the upper house of Russia’s parliament earlier received an official invitation to take part in the 4th World Conference of Speakers of Parliament from member states of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, which will take place in New York from August 31 to September 2.
This event will be preceded by the 10th meeting of women speakers of parliament due to take place on August 29-30.
Meanwhile, Russia’s Federation Council speaker earlier said she did not rule out that she might be denied a US visa as a person on the US sanctions list.
The United States is bound by an agreement with the United Nations Organization, under which it is required to admit persons to the country arriving for participation in the UN events. This rule, however, does not apply to all events held on the territory of the UN compound in New York.
The Inter-Parliamentary Union is an independent international structure with its headquarters in Geneva and has the status of an observer organization at the UN.