The US Embassy in Russia has declined to comment on US visa denial to members of the Russian delegation for the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), qualifying it as an isolated case.
"According to our rules, we do not comment on isolated cases of submitting applications for US visas," the embassy said in a statement.
The Russian Foreign Ministry's spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, has said that several members of the Russian delegation for the UNGA have been refused US visas. She has also refuted Washington's claims that the Russian nationals have failed to timely submit necessary documents.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said that Russia and the United Nations have to provide a tough reaction to the move, while senior lawmaker Konstantin Kosachev has warned that retaliative steps will be painful.
New York is hosting the 74th session of the UNGA from September 24-30. Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov is expected to hold dozens of meetings with heads of states and governments, and foreign ministers on the UNGA sidelines, and also to take part in meetings of the UN Security Council and multilateral and regional negotiations of foreign ministers.
