The US issuing of visas to journalists from Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s group, who arrived in New York to participate in UN General Assembly events, with restrictions on their movement, reflects Washington’s violation of freedom of expression, Russian Foreign Ministry official Maria Zakharov said on Sputnik radio.
“This is certainly another limitation that the United States is demonstrating in relation to both freedom of expression and the safety of journalists. In other words, it is a demonstrative element from their point of view. It has nothing to do with the security of the United States of America or with immigration policy.” – he said, TASS quoted him as saying.
It was previously reported that Russian media representatives were given documents with a note that they could not be more than 40 kilometers (25 miles) from central New York.
In September 2023, visas with restrictions were issued to cover Lavrov’s participation in the UN High-Level Week. In July this year, representatives of the Russian media, during the Russian presidency of the UN Security Council, also received such documents, allowing them to travel to the United States “for the purpose of immediate and continuous transit to the United Nations headquarters.”
