MOSCOW: Russia expects that the United States will issue visas to Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his delegation for their participation in the high-level meetings during the 76th session of the UN General Assembly, a senior diplomat told Sputnik on Thursday.
“We believe that [Foreign Minister] Sergey Lavrov, as well as the members of the delegation and their deputies listed in the [presidential] order, will be issued entry visas to the United States in a timely manner. We call on the UN secretariat to make sure the US strictly fulfils its obligations under the Agreement between the UN and the US government regarding the location of the UN headquarters, including the bona fide consideration of all visa applications on time,” Pyotr Ilyichev, director of the Department of International Organizations at the Russian Foreign Ministry, said.
In late February, the US imposed sanctions against Lavrov, which included a ban on entering the country, freezing of assets in the US and barring US companies and citizens from doing business with those involved in the sanctions list.
The Russian Foreign Ministry called the sanctions illegitimate and added that Lavrov does not have accounts in foreign banks.
Meanwhile, UN spokesperson Farhan Haq told Sputnik on Wednesday that UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and other senior UN officials remain in close contact with the host country, the United States, and with the concerned missions at the world body, including the Russian mission, with regard to issues under the UN-US Headquarters Agreement.
On July 27, some media reports indicated that the US did not issue visas to several Russian representatives intending to participate in the work of the United Nations bodies as Russia has had a long-standing problem with its diplomats not being able to obtain US visas in time to attend UN events.
According to the agreement between the United Nations and the United States, as the host country of the headquarters, the US authorities should not obstruct representatives and officials of the organization’s member countries from visiting the UN, Sputnik reported. (ANI)
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