Russian minister Lavrov in New York to chair the UN council. Controversy over visas denied to accompanying journalists

The Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, arrived in New York, the first time the Kremlin representative has traveled to the United States since the beginning of the conflict in Ukraine. Tomorrow he will chair the meeting of the UN Security Council of which Russia holds the rotating presidency. But around the is already . In fact, the United States denied entry visas to Russian journalists accompanying Lavrov at the last moment. “It is a clear manipulation of freedom of speech and a violation of the rights of journalists”, commented representatives of Moscow while the deputy minister Sergei Ryabkov he warned: Russia “will not forget and will not forgive.” Today Lavrov, back from a tour in South America and a Cubawill meet the Secretary General Anthony Guterres to discuss a possible wheat deal, While a meeting with the US secretary of state is not scheduled Antony Blink.

Returning to the affair of denied visas, Lavrov commented “I knew that American colleagues are renowned for doing this type of thing but I was sure that this time, given the high level of attention, it would be different. I was wrong”. Failure to issue visas to journalists risks complicating possible negotiations for the reporter of the Wall Street Journal Evan Gershkovich, arrested for espionage in Russia, as well as raising even more tension on Ukraine. Russia dedicated tomorrow’s session to the theme “Effective multilateralism through the defense of the principles of the United Nations Charter”. The US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield it will be the bearer of a vision of multilateralism rooted in the “desire to resolve shared challenges” and work “together” in support of the principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity and human rights. “We will continue to expose Russian lies and disinformation,” added the American mission. The European ambassadors, including the Italian Maurice Massari, they will issue a statement before the work of the Security Council begins.