Foreign Ministry: Russia works to launch arbitration against US over visa denial

Russia will continue working on launching arbitration at the UN against the US over the non-issuance of visas to Russian delegations, said Peter Ilyichev, director of the Department of International Organizations of the Russian Foreign Ministry.

According to him, UN Secretary-General António Guterres is in no hurry to initiate this procedure, writes Kommersant.

The diplomat said that Moscow raises the issue at each session of the sixth committee of the UN, which is the main platform of the UN to consider legal issues. Ilyichev noted that the UN secretary-general should initiate the arbitration directly.

"He does not want to do this, it is unclear why, although he has a direct mandate from member states, which authorizes him to initiate the arbitration procedure," the diplomat added.

António Guterres expressed doubts that launching arbitration against the United States would help positively solve the problem of issuing visas to diplomats from Russia, as arbitration does not provide for any coercive measures.

In March, Washington did not grant visas to Russians to attend UN events. In April, Russia chaired the UN Security Council, for which a Russian delegation, headed by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, flew to the United States.

According to Lavrov, the US Embassy indicated that it was ready to issue visas to the journalists accompanying him after the delegation's plane took off. The State Department said it had issued nearly 100 visas for the minister's escorts. In the same month, Austria did not issue visas for most of the Russian delegation to the UN Special Committee.