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Russia to bring up US visa non-issuance to delegates to UN events - diplomat

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Vershinin described the situation when the country hosting the United Nations headquarters denied visas to delegates from UN member nations as "absolutely outrageous"

© Mikhail Dzhaparidze/TASS

MOSCOW, February 22. /TASS/. Russia will put the problem of non-issuance of US visas for delegates to UN events in New York City point-blank, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Vershinin said in an interview with TASS.

He described the situation when the country hosting the United Nations headquarters denied visas to delegates from UN member nations as "absolutely outrageous."

"The United Nations has a special committee on relations with the host country. It has already held a meeting and will meet again, and we will put this problem point-blank," Vershinin stressed.

"The United States is obliged to issue visas and ensure normal operation of all UN structures. It is its liability. We call on them to discharge its duty properly," he stressed.

"It is not the only serious claim the UN member nations have to the United States as a country hosting the United Nations headquarters," the Russian senior diplomat added.

Problems with obtaining US entry visas have been impeding United Nations events at its headquarters for quite a time. The Disarmament Commission failed to hold its organizational session in 2019 die to this very reason.

Since the start of the 74th session of the UN General Assembly, as many as 18 Russian delegates have had to skip UN events because the US had failed to issue entry visas in due time.

In December 2019, the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution calling on the US side to stop the practice of visa issuance delays to diplomats from a number of nations, including Russia, Venezuela, and Iran.

Later, Georgy Mikhno, a deputy director of the Russian foreign ministry’s new challenges and threats department, was unable to attend a UN meeting on issues of counter-terrorism efforts because of the visa denial.

The United Nations General Assembly’s Committee on Relations with the Host Country will gather for an extraordinary meeting over this matter early next week.

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