MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 14th September, 2022) A significant part of the Russian delegation has not received US visas to attend the UN General Assembly (UNGA) and there are also logistics problems, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told Sputnik on Wednesday.
"I cannot say the exact percentages right now, because I don't have the accurate statistics, but a significant part of the Russian delegation has not yet received visas," Zakharova said, commenting on the prospect of Russia participating in the UNGA.
The spokeswoman explained that the delegation consists of two parts: the official delegation, which is approved by the president and headed by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, and the accompanying persons, like experts and interpreters. On Tuesday, Lavrov and several other officials have been granted US visas; however, the participation of the majority of the delegation is still in a state of uncertainty, Zakharova said.
There are also certain logistics problems, according to the spokeswoman.
"There is also, of course, an issue related to logistics, namely with traveling to the United States... We do not have regular direct flights, which there used to be," Zakharova said, adding that the US made the decision to restrict the direct flights operated by the Russian airline Aeroflot and US airline Delta as well as sanction Russian airline Rossiya, which resulted in the ban of official Russian flights.
"Well, we are waiting for the US side to resolve the logistics issues, given that these problems were created by the United States," Zakharova concluded.
The 77th UNGA high-level week, which runs from September 13-27, marks the first in-person gathering of the body since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
On September 3, Russian Ambassador to the United Nations Vasily Nebenzia asked UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to emphasize to the US government that Russian delegates and accompanying journalists should be granted visas and access in a timely manner.
This is not the first scandal involving US reluctance to issue visas to Russian officials and diplomats this year. In July, Washington refused to grant a visa to Andrei Krutskikh, the head of the Department of International Information Security of the Russian foreign ministry. Moscow has repeatedly called on the UN Secretariat to resolve the issue, demanding that the US stop hindering Russian diplomats from taking part in international events.
