UNITED NATIONS, October 21. /TASS/. The United States has been rejecting all requests from Russian diplomats to travel beyond the 25-mile zone since the implementation of strict movement restrictions in 2022,Russia's Permanent Representative to the UN, Vasily Nebenzya, told TASS.
The head of the Russian diplomatic mission noted that, until 2022, a notification procedure for departures had been in place since the Soviet era, but it did not apply to senior diplomats. "All requests from diplomats to leave the designated zone are consistently rejected," he said.
The diplomat emphasized that a major package of illegal restrictions was introduced by the Obama administration in 2016, accompanied by the expulsion of a significant number of Russian diplomats, under the pretext of alleged Russian interference in the US presidential elections. "As we know, this claim later fell apart, and the investigators involved became the focus of the US judiciary. However, this has not deterred Washington. Since then, none of these violations have been addressed," Nebenzya recalled.
Gross violation
Nebenzya stressed that the US is grossly violating the agreement regarding the location of the UN headquarters in New York. "Unlike embassies and consulates, we are accredited not to the US, but to the UN. This means that, under international law, the US is explicitly forbidden from applying the principle of reciprocity or imposing restrictions on the permanent mission and its staff based on the state of bilateral relations," he explained.
According to Nebenzya, such a ban "is explicitly stated in the text of the agreement on the UN headquarters," and this principle is regularly reaffirmed by leaders of the world organization. "The problem is that the US is flagrantly violating this ban. Restrictions on movement within the US are nothing but discriminatory measures stemming from the bilateral agenda," the Russian permanent representative emphasized. He noted that such measures apply only to a small group of states pursuing a sovereign foreign policy. "This concerns Cuba, Iran, Syria, North Korea, and China" Nebenzya stated.
Visa denials
The envoy also mentioned that US authorities violate international law regarding Russian delegations attending UN events, either denying entry visas or issuing them with delays, and harassing Russians working in the UN Secretariat.
"I would like to emphasize that every visa denial is a gross violation that infringes on the principles of sovereign equality of states and non-interference in their internal affairs, as well as the universal nature of the United Nations. Under the headquarters agreement, the US obligation to issue visas to the world organization's events is unconditional. There is no justification for such violations," the Russian diplomat stated.
According to the envoy, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has avoided initiating an arbitration procedure on the issue for the past five years. "We often hear the question: 'If the US is violating international law, why doesn't Russia go to court or arbitration?' Unfortunately, it's not that simple. The parties to the agreement on the UN headquarters are the US and the UN, not the member states," he explained. "This means the secretary-general bears a significant responsibility to defend the interests of the organization and all accredited delegations, acting as the guarantor of US compliance with its obligations," Nebenzya added.
He explained that under the agreement, the UN secretary-general is obliged to submit any unresolved disputes to arbitration. "Unfortunately, in our case, in a quite obvious dispute, Antonio Guterres has been evading the launch of the arbitration procedure for five years now," the diplomat added.
Nebenzya emphasized that Russia will continue to demand that the secretary-general fulfill his obligations.