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Legislator slams failure to issue US visas to Russian delegation

The Russian lawmaker is certain that almost everything that happens in the US now has a purely domestic rationale

© Marina Lystseva/TASS

MOSCOW, December 4. /TASS/. The United States’ failure to issue visas to delegates from the Russian Federal Treasury who planned to take part in an international conference is another blow to bilateral relations, which will entail consequences, Chairman of the Russian Federation Council (upper house) Foreign Affairs Committee Konstantin Kosachev told reporters on Wednesday.

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US fails to issue visas to delegates from Russian Federal Treasury

"Of course, this is another blow to our bilateral relations, which will entail consequences. When excuses like ‘Russia started it first’ [the US Embassy in Moscow still has a statement that shifts blame for starting a 'visa war' to Russia on its website] are heard from Washington next time and when it starts wondering why some Americans are barred from entering our country, I believe we will have to recall this case as well. Anyway, there are no reasons for those who initiated such reprisals to be in Russia now," he stated.

Kosachev is certain that almost everything that happens in the US now has a purely domestic rationale "amid the unfolding Trump impeachment show." "In the United States itself, passions are running high, some new evidence surfaces, someone changes his or her testimony, in short, everything is in accordance with the laws of Hollywood. However, I believe that outside of America, few people follow that saga in detail, because all that is reminiscent of some small-town squabbles rather than a superpower’s policy. And the entry ban for delegates from the Russian Treasury, which stems from that squabbles, is part of the same story," the senator claimed.

On Tuesday, the press service of the Russian Embassy in Washington said in a statement that the United States had not issued visas to delegates from the Russian Federal Treasury who planned to take part in the international conference on auditing on December 3. The US Department of State also prevented head of the Russian Foreign Ministry's department on cooperation with compatriots abroad Oleg Malginov from attending the New York Youth Forum, the press service said.

In September, the US failed to issue visas to some members of the Russian delegation at the UN General Assembly session. Among them were head the Russian Federation Council Foreign Affairs Committee Konstantin Kosachev, head of the State Duma (lower house) Foreign Affairs Committee Leonid Slutsky, CEO of Russia’s Federal Space Agency Dmitry Rogozin and ten Russian Foreign Ministry employees.

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