Washington has denied visas to a number of Russian diplomats who intended to participate in the UN Preparatory Committee for the 2020 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), Director of the Department for the Arms Non-Proliferation and Control at the Russian Foreign Ministry Vladimir Yermakov said on Friday.

Axar.az reports citing TASS.

"As a result of the US’ illegal actions, several Russian officials have been unable to participate in this forum," he said, adding that the conference would have to be moved from the US to another country if such practice continued. "If American visas are not granted to members of the Russian delegation by the end of this year, the UN Secretariat will have to organize the 2020 Review Conference in Geneva, in Vienna or in the capital of any other state able to take at least its organizing and technical commitments to the UN seriously," he said.

In April, the Foreign Ministry reported that the US denied a visa to a Russian expert on chemical weapons, UN Secretary General’s advisor from Russia Dmitry Poklonsky, who was supposed to speak at a special briefing at a session of the UN Security Council.