Russia ‘will not forget or forgive’ US refusal of journalist visas

Russia on Sunday accused the U.S. of denying Russian journalists visas to visit and cover Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s chairmanship of the United Nations Security Council in New York, vowing that Moscow “will not forget and will not forgive” over the matter.

“The country that calls itself the strongest, the smartest, the freest and the most just, has behaved in a cowardly and stupid fashion by showing what its asseverations about protecting freedom of speech and access to information are really worth,” Lavrov said in a translated statement shared by the Foreign Ministry. 

“Most importantly, be sure that we will not forget or forgive,” Lavrov said. 

The Russian journalists were hoping to cover Lavrov’s time in New York as Russia assumes the rotating chairmanship of the UN’s Security Council, according to the Foreign Ministry. 

A State Department spokesperson told The Hill that the U.S. takes seriously its obligations as host of the United Nations headquarters. Under the 1947 agreement, the U.S. agreed to provide visas to certain groups of people to facilitate travel to and from the headquarters.  

The State Department processes hundreds of visas for Russian delegates to UN events each year, the spokesperson said, and Russia’s UN mission members are reminded to submit applications early for processing. The U.S. processing of visas, which are judged on a case-by-case basis, has been hampered by Russia’s actions against the U.S. embassy in Russia, they said, amid Moscow’s war on Ukraine.

Lavrov’s dig over speech freedoms comes amid controversy over Russia’s arrest of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich on allegations of espionage. The State Department has designated Gershkovich as “wrongfully detained.”

Updated: 3:49 p.m.