The United States did not issue Lavrov a visa for a trip to the UN General Assembly in New York

Russia has requested 56 visas from the United States so that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his delegation can travel to New York for the annual meeting of world leaders at the United Nations. The UN General Assembly is scheduled for September 20-26. So far, the Russian delegation has not received a single visa, reports Reuters.

In a letter to UN Secretary-General António Guterres, Russian Ambassador to the UN Vasily Nebenzya said that this was "alarming." According to him, over the past few months, Washington has "consistently denied entry visas" to a number of Russian delegates to attend other UN events.

The United States takes its obligations as a UN host country seriously, a State Department spokesman said. And added that visa records are confidential under US law. And therefore he cannot comment on individual cases.

Under the 1947 UN Headquarters Agreement, the United States is required to allow foreign diplomats access to the United Nations. But Washington says it may deny visas on security grounds - the threat of terrorism and foreign policy.

Relations between the United States and Russia are extremely tense due to the war in Ukraine

“We process hundreds of visas each year for Russian Federation delegates to UN events,” a State Department spokesman said. And noted that applications should be submitted as early as possible to ensure timely processing.

“This is especially important due to Russia's unjustified actions against our embassy in Russia, including the forced dismissal of local employees and employees from third countries. This severely limited our staff and therefore our ability to process visas,” said a State Department spokesman.

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Nebenzya said that the necessary visa applications had been submitted to the US Embassy in Moscow. Nebenzya added that the journalists who are supposed to accompany Lavrov and the flight crew have not yet been issued American visas either. He once again emphasized that the US authorities “should immediately issue the requested visas to all Russian delegates and accompanying persons. Including Russian journalists.”

Guterres and other senior UN officials are in close contact with the United States and Russia about visas.

“We are actively working with the US Visa Office. We do that in this case,” said UN spokesman Eri Kaneko.

The United States has long banned Russian diplomats working for the UN from traveling more than 40 kilometers from New York without prior approval from Washington.

Washington imposed sanctions on Lavrov in February

The US State Department accused the Russian Foreign Minister of "direct responsibility for Russia's unprovoked and illegal invasion of Ukraine." The sanctions freeze any assets Lavrov may have in the United States and generally bar Americans from doing business with him.