Russian citizens can apply for a visa at US representations around the world, as there are no restrictions on issuing visas to Russians in the US. This is how the State Department commented on August 10 Kyiv’s call to the countries of the Group of Seven (G7) to ban the issuance of entry permits to citizens of the Russian Federation.
“Russians <...> can actually go to any embassy [США] in the world to apply [на получение визы]. This happens every day,” said Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs Julie Stafft at a briefing.
At the same time, she recalled that the issuance of visas is not currently carried out at the US Embassy in Moscow.
Earlier on Wednesday, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba called on the countries of the European Union (EU) and the G7 to stop issuing visas to Russian citizens. Kuleba said that Russians should be “deprived of the right to cross international borders until they learn to respect them.”
Then it became known that the proposal to ban the issuance of Schengen visas to Russian citizens was submitted for discussion in the EU. As Senator of the Federation Council Sergei Tsekov said in an interview with Izvestia, if the European Union (EU) decides to ban Russians from entering the countries of the community, this will be a violation of international law and demonstrate the stupidity of the EU leadership.
As reported in the German Cabinet of Ministers, Berlin took note of the information about the discussion of the issue of issuing visas to Russians, but refrained from commenting. The representative of the Cabinet of Ministers, Steffen Hebeshtreit, also did not answer what position German Chancellor Olaf Scholz shares on this score.
In turn, the head of Rostourism, Zarina Doguzova, said that the department expects that Europe will not make rash decisions to restrict the entry of Russian tourists, otherwise it is the countries of the European continent that will lose more from such a decision.
On August 9, Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas also tweeted that Russians should stop issuing tourist visas. In response, the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, said that Callas’s proposal was “nonsense on the verge of nationalism.”
On February 24, Russia announced the start of a special operation to protect the civilian population of Donbass. It began against the backdrop of the situation in the region that worsened in mid-February. Then the authorities of the DPR and LPR reported on the increased shelling by the Ukrainian troops, announced the evacuation of the civilian population in the Russian Federation and asked for recognition of independence. On February 21, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the relevant decrees.
For more up-to-date videos and details about the situation in Donbass, watch the Izvestia TV channel.
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