Russian Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev has traveled to New York to take part in the Fifth Summit of Police Chiefs of UN member states despite U.S. sanctions imposed against him.

Axar.az reports that the information was announced by Russian Interior Ministry spokeswoman Irina Volk.

The Summit of Police Chiefs is held every two years. Kolokoltsev has been under U.S. sanctions since 2018, which prohibit him from entering the United States. For this reason, the Russian Interior Ministry delegation was denied U.S. visas in 2022. However, Kolokoltsev was nevertheless able to attend the summit in 2024.

Media reports said that during that visit, Kolokoltsev met with UN Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix to discuss current issues related to police activities in UN peacekeeping missions.