There was no immediate response from the US State Department about the denied visa request. The journalists were meant to cover Lavrov’s appearance at the United Nations to mark Russia’s presidency of the Security Council.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Photo: TASS
“A country that considers itself the strongest, smartest, freest and fairest has… shown how valuable its commitments to protecting freedom of speech and access to information really are,” Lavrov said before leaving Moscow on Sunday.
“I emphasize that we will find every way to respond to this, so that the Americans remember for a long time that this should not be done,” said Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova further explained the incident on her Telegram channel on Sunday, saying: “There were 40 minutes left before their departure. They – the journalists were at the airport. They didn’t have visas… It was a clear manipulation of freedom of speech and an infringement of the rights of journalists.”
The dispute comes amid heightened tensions with the US over the arrest last month of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, whom Russia accuses of spying. The US has said the journalist is being “wrongfully detained”.
Many Western journalists in Moscow have left Russia since the conflict broke out in Ukraine. Russia now requires foreign journalists to renew their visas every three months, compared to once a year before the war began.
Bui Huy (according to TASS, AP)
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