Russia’s ambassador to the United Nations has accused the United States of breaching its obligations as host of the UN after denying a visa to a senior Russian official to attend a Security Council meeting.
Vassily Nebenzia told the 15-member council that Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Alimov had been unable to travel to New York despite being invited by China, which chaired the meeting.
“Despite all of our attempts to persuade the U.S. side to issue a visa to him, that visa was ultimately not granted,” Nebenzia said, describing the situation as “an egregious instance of disrespect” towards China’s UN presidency.
A UN diplomat said Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi had also apparently been denied a visa for the same meeting, which focused on upholding the UN Charter and strengthening multilateral cooperation.
The U.S. State Department and the U.S. and Iranian missions to the UN did not immediately comment, while China’s UN mission said it had no information about the visa issues.
Nebenzia said the UN Headquarters Agreement requires the host country to grant access to representatives of all member states.
UN spokesman Farhan Haq also noted the expectation that visas should be issued to participants attending UN activities in New York.
Araqchi did not attend the meeting and was unable to meet UN Secretary-General António Guterres as planned. The reason was not immediately clear.
The dispute comes amid wider tensions. Iran on Tuesday accused the United States of violating a ceasefire by carrying out what it described as defensive strikes in southern Iran.
China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi urged all sides to maintain the ceasefire, warning that global stability was under strain.
Nebenzia said the UN Charter was facing serious pressure and accused Western countries of applying double standards, while criticising renewed military activity in countries such as Germany and Japan.
“The policy of remilitarisation is undermining the UN-centric international system,” he said.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres told the meeting that the world was facing the highest number of conflicts since the organisation’s founding in 1945, as well as “new and uncharted risks to peace and security”.
Wang added that global tensions meant the international system was “sailing into dangerous waters”.
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