WASHINGTON, January 26. /TASS/. The US authorities denied Russian diplomats the possibility of participating in the 59th Session of the International Grains Council in New Orleans, the Russian embassy in Washington said in a statement.
"We would once again like to draw the attention of the public and the media to the destructive practices of the US authorities in restricting official travel of the Russian Embassy within the territory of the United States," the Russian diplomatic mission said. "The number of State Department refusals to properly completed notification requests for official trips outside D.C. is constantly growing. Moreover, officials do not bother to explain the reasons for their decisions. Bureaucrats seem to consider it beneath their dignity to talk to us."
"Another fragrant case happened recently - the ban on the participation of our diplomats in the meeting of the International Grains Council on January 24 in New Orleans. With such an act, the United States clearly demonstrated that it is ready to violate its obligations as the host country of multilateral meetings," the embassy added.
"Meanwhile, obstacles to Russian presence at events that are significant from the point of view of the history of Russia-US relations seem to have almost become a norm. These include visits to sites of Russian historical and cultural heritage (such as the famous Fort Ross in California) and even laying of wreaths at the burial sites of Soviet soldiers," Russian diplomats said.
"We call on the US authorities to realistically assess the consequences of its course towards further erosion of bilateral relations. We demand a responsible approach to the host functions of international events. Russian participation in those is not only in demand by other nations, but is also necessary for making effective decisions on issues that concern the whole world," the statement says.