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19 Apr. (EUROPE PRESS) –
The Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, has invited the United States Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, to participate in ministerial meetings within the framework of the United Nations Security Council summit, chaired by Russia in April.
“I know that the minister (Lavrov) has invited the heads of foreign affairs departments, the State Department and others to participate in the meetings that he will chair,” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Pankin said.
However, Pankin has claimed to be unaware, for the moment, if the top diplomatic representatives of Russia and the United States will hold a meeting on the sidelines of the UN summit. “I don’t know if it will happen,” he pointed out, according to the TASS news agency.
The Russian representative to the United Nations, Vasili Nebenzia, confirmed the day before that Lavrov had received the necessary visa to travel to New York, where the United Nations headquarters are located.
The Foreign Minister plans to attend the Security Council meeting, scheduled for Monday and Tuesday of next week, and has already confirmed at least one meeting on the sidelines of the summit with the UN Secretary General, António Guterres.
The Russian authorities have defended this Wednesday that the United States “is obliged” to also issue visas to Russian journalists who plan to cover the Security Council meeting.
