Moscow decries U.S. move to call Russians 'homeless' for visa purposes
Reuters
Published Oct 24, 2021 16:43
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia on Sunday condemned a decision by the United States to add Russians seeking U.S. visas to a list of "homeless nationals" who can apply for visas in third countries.
The move allowed Russians to apply for U.S. visas in Warsaw instead of their home country after the American Embassy stopped processing most visa applications in May due to Moscow's ban on employing embassy staff in Russia.
The U.S. State Department lists as "homeless" applicants from countries in which the United States has no consular representation, or where consular staff cannot issue visas due to the political or security situation.
Russia became the 10th nation on the list, after Cuba, Eritrea, Iran, Libya, Somalia, South Sudan, Syria, Venezuela and Yemen.
"American diplomats have for many years been destroying the system of consular services in Russia ..." foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova wrote on social media.
"They have turned a technical procedure, a routine one for the 21st century, into a real hell."
With ties already at post-Cold War lows, Russia and the United States are in a dispute over the number of diplomats they can post to each other's capitals, and failed to make progress at talks this month.
In addition, Russia has placed the United States on a list of "unfriendly" countries who must seek approval to employ Russian nationals - and has set the U.S. quota at zero.
At the talks, Moscow said it was willing to lift all the restrictions imposed in recent years, and Washington said it wanted parity on diplomatic staff numbers and visa reciprocity.
Get The App
Written By: Reuters
Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.