Russian Ambassador to the UN Vasily Nebenzia said that the United States did not issue a visa to Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Alimov to participate in a meeting of the UN Security Council.
Reuters writes about this.
Nebenzia made the statement during a meeting of the 15-nation UN Security Council chaired by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. According to the Russian diplomat, Alimov intended to take part in the meeting. Nebenzia called it a violation of the US's obligations as the host country of the headquarters.
A UN diplomat said that Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was also reportedly denied a visa to attend the same meeting.
The main topic of the meeting was compliance with the UN Charter and strengthening multilateral cooperation.
Nebenzia noted that Alimov, who is responsible for issues related to UN activities, was invited by Wang Yi, and called the situation a “blatant display of disrespect” for China's presidency of the UN Security Council.
“Despite all our attempts to convince the American side to issue him a visa, in the end it was never granted,” he said.
Nebenzia stressed that, in accordance with the “UN Headquarters Agreement,” access to the organization's headquarters in New York “must be provided to all officials of member states without exception.”
UN spokesman Farhan Haq said during a briefing that Abbas Araghchi was not in New York and was unable to hold a meeting with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres scheduled for Tuesday. He added that he did not know the reasons for his absence.
Reuters noted that the US State Department, as well as the US and Iranian permanent missions to the UN, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.