Russia to Insist on Launching Arbitration Against US Over Visas, Top Diplomat Says

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russia will insist that UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres launch arbitration against the United States due to regular problems with issuing visas to Russian diplomats, Russian Deputy Representative to the United Nations Dmitry Polyanskiy told Sputnik on Sunday.

On Thursday, Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that the majority of Russian delegation members who are expected to attend the United Nations General Assembly have not yet received visas.

"There have been a lot of violations. Our problems with visas and illegally confiscated diplomatic property have remained unresolved for the sixth year. Restrictions on movement have an even longer history," Polyanskiy said.

According to him, all the "reasonable and limited timeframes" set by the UN General Assembly for eliminating these problems have long passed, "however, the Secretary General, unfortunately, has not yet begun the arbitration procedure."

In this Sept. 13, 2005, file photo, the flags of member nations fly outside the General Assembly building at the United Nations headquarters in New York.

© AP Photo / Adam Rountree

"He [Guterres] has a mandate for this from the General Assembly. We will continue to insist on its implementation," Polyanskiy said.

Washington previously showed reluctance to grant visas to Russian diplomats, who were coming in the country to participate in United Nations events. Moscow has repeatedly called on the UN Secretariat to resolve the issue, demanding that the US stop hindering Russian diplomats from taking part in the work of the organization.