Russian parliament speaker slams US sanctions
A senior Russian lawmaker has censured the sanctions imposed by the United States on Russian legislators as illegitimate and blatant violations of international law.
The bans “grossly violate international law, the principles of democracy and freedom of speech,” Valentina Matviyenko, the speaker of the Russian Federation Council (upper house of parliament), said in a Monday video address to the Fourth World Conference of Speakers of Parliament in New York.
Matviyenko, who has been targeted by the US sanctions since Crimea’s unification with Russia last year, was scheduled to participate in the international conference of parliamentary speakers and also attend meetings at the United Nations (UN) headquarters in New York.
However, her restrictive US visa, which was given with the sole purpose of her attending UN events, did not allow her to go to the conference arranged by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) even though it was held at the UN headquarters.
In her message, Matviyenko also urged the participants of the conference to denounce the imposition of sanctions on Russian parliamentarians and take appropriate measures to “prevent similar situations in the future.”
The US move has also drawn angry reactions from Russia’s Foreign Ministry and lawmakers. The ministry has called the US action “completely unacceptable.”
Some Russian politicians have asked the UN to move its headquarters from the US to Switzerland. Igor Zotov, the head of the defense committee of the lower house of the Russian parliament, made the demand in a letter to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.
The United States has a commitment to allow foreign officials to enter the country for UN-related activities.
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