The United Nations (UN) Secretariat is studying a letter from Russia regarding visa denials for a Russian delegation to the United States, Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said Wednesday.
"We've received the letter, we're studying it and take whatever action is appropriate from the Secretariat's end," Dujarric told a press briefing.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said he raised the issue on Friday with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, after some Russian officials were not granted visas to enter the United States to attend last week's 74th UN General Assembly (UNGA) sessions in New York, according to media reports.
Ten Russian officials did not receive visas allowing them to join the Moscow delegation attending the annual UNGA General Debate, the reports said.
Although Lavrov suggested the U.S. move was retaliatory, as Washington violated its obligations to grant visas to visiting delegations, he also suggested the diplomatic flap was a fault of the U.S. State Department but not ordered by Pompeo or U.S. President Donald Trump.
The top Russian diplomat saw the denial as an attempt to thwart an improvement in Moscow-Washington relations sought by Trump and Pompeo, the reports said.
