“The United States Embassy’s Consular Visit Request Denied by Russia in Response to Lavrov Visa Processing Failure”

The United States Embassy’s request for a May 11 consular visit by journalist Evan Hershkovich is denied. This is stated in the message of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, distributed today, April 27.

The senior diplomat of the American diplomatic mission in Moscow was summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry today, he was handed a note of protest in connection with the failure of the visa processing of the journalistic pool of the head of the diplomatic department Sergei Lavrov the US embassy.

“It is especially emphasized that such sabotage, aimed at preventing normal journalistic work, will not remain unanswered. In this regard, the US Embassy is informed that his request for a consular visit on May 11 of this year, an American citizen Gershkovich, who was detained on charges of espionage activities, is being rejected,” – the message of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation says.

Earlier, the Lavrov delegation encountered difficulties in obtaining US visas for a trip to participate in the UN Security Council events on April 24 and 25. At the same time, representatives of the Russian media did not receive visas at all. The American side did not explain in any way what caused such a decision. In this regard, the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry said that the United States had chickened out, and assured journalists that Russia “won’t forget or forgive” this incident, TASS reports.