Asserting that Moscow would take severe retaliation, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Sunday that the United States had refused visas to journalists who wanted to cover his visit to New York.
The American State Department did not respond to the allegation of rejected visas right away. Lavrov’s attendance to the UN to commemorate Russia’s presidency of the Security Council was to be covered by the media.
Before departing from Moscow on Sunday, Lavrov said, “A country that calls itself the strongest, smartest, freest and fairest country has chickened out and done something stupid by showing what its sworn assurances about protecting freedom of speech and access to information are really worth.”
We won’t forget and we won’t forgive, he assured them.
Sergei Ryabkov, deputy foreign minister, stated, “I emphasize that we will find ways to respond to this, so that the Americans will remember for a long time not to do this.”
High tensions with Washington following the arrest last month of Wall Street Journal writer Evan Gershkovich, whom Russia suspects of spying, led to the current conflict. He has been deemed to have been “wrongfully detained” by the United States.
After Russia pushed soldiers into Ukraine, many foreign journalists stationed there departed the nation. Currently, Russia demands foreign journalists to renew their accreditation and visas every three months as opposed to once a year prior to the start of hostilities.
