The Kremlin charges Washington with a deliberate delay of visa issuance for Russian officials traveling to the United States. The Russian diplomats view this as another step that could harm already tense relations between the two states.
"The U.S. embassy in Moscow failed to issue visas to a Russian delegation of treasury officials who were due to attend an international audit management conference in Washington on Dec. 3, the Russian embassy in Washington said late on Tuesday", Reuters wrote.
The Russian side made a statement, in which the diplomats claimed concerns "about the U.S. State Department’s lack of will to ensure the proper work of its own consular organizations under lame pretexts".
"The Russian embassy said it did not believe U.S. visas for Russian citizens were being held up because of a shortage of staff", the outlet added.
