‘We will not forgive’: Moscow fumes after US allegedly denied visas to Russian journalists for UN visit

Russian officials, on Sunday (April 23) said visas were never issued for their country’s media representatives who were supposed to accompany the foreign minister for the upcoming United Nations Security Council (UNSC) meeting in New York, United States. This comes as Moscow has taken over the presidency of the UNSCin April which Kyiv has said was a “slap in the face”.

Russia fumes over US’ move

Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, on Sunday, took to the messaging app, Telegram and said, “Speaking about the US real treatment of journalists. There are 40 minutes left before their departure. They (journalists) are all at the airport. They have no visas. The US Embassy replied to a our relevant request that ‘they work on it’”.

She added, “It’s an obvious manipulation of the freedom of speech and infringement on the rights of journalists.” Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said, “We won't forget, we will not forgive this,” referring to Washington’s supposed move. He also denounced it as a “stupid” failure of the US to give visas to Russian journalists.

“A country that calls itself the strongest, smartest, freest and fairest, chickened out,” said the Russian foreign minister, as per AFP, adding that this shows “the worth of their solemn assurances on freedom of speech.” This comes as Moscow has strongly tightened conditions to obtain the accreditations needed to get journalist visas in Russia.

Washington is yet to respond to these allegations.

The Russian foreign minister is said to chair several UNSC meetings in New York. However, Moscow’s UNSC presidency has drawn criticism from Kyiv which has previously called it a “slap in the face”.

Russia warns of retaliatory steps

Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said, “We will find formats to respond to this so that the Americans remember for a long time that such things must not be done,” he was quoted as saying by Russian news agencies.

Citing a Russian diplomatic source, TASS reported that the US should not doubt that American journalists will feel maximally uncomfortable after Washington’s non-issuance of visas to Russian journalists.

Russian journalists also told news agency TASS that the US embassy in Moscow has not yet returned their passports and claimed they were invited to the embassy on visa-related matters on April 22 before the minister’s departure.

No plans for Lavrov-Blinken meeting

“There are no such plans. As a matter of fact, we have no agenda to be discussed by the ministers at this point,” said Ryabkov, on Sunday, ahead of the Russian delegation’s departure to New York, when asked about a possible meeting between the Russian foreign minister and US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken.

(With inputs from agencies)

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