US blocks Russian diplomats’ participation in International Cereal Council Meeting

The Russian embassy in Washington announced that the US authorities refused to allow Russian diplomats to participate in the International Cereal Council meeting.

The embassy was quoted by TASS in a statement published yesterday on its Telegram channel: “We call attention to the devastating practice of the U.S. authorities in restricting official travel of the Russian embassy within the territory of the United States, as the number of rejections by the U.S. State of properly completed notification requests for business trips outside Washington is constantly increasing,” noting the “blocking of the participation of Russian diplomats at the meeting of the international Grain Council on the 24th of this month in New Orleans”.

The Russian Embassy affirmed that “the United States clearly shows that it is readily prepared to violate its obligations as host of multilateral meetings”, noting that “putting obstacles in the way of the Russian participation in important events has become a rule in Russian-American relations”.

The embassy called on the US authorities to soberly assess the consequences of this course, which will later lead to a further weakening of bilateral relations, and said: “we call on the American side to take a responsible approach during the organization of international meetings, in which Russia’s participation is not only necessary for other countries, but also for effective decisions on issues of concern to the whole world.

On the 24th of  March, the Director of the Legal Office of the Russian Mission to the United Nations, Sergei Leonidchenko, announced that the United States was imposing restrictions on the movement of Russian diplomats working for United Nations bodies on American territory.

Amal Farhat