Lavrov Arrives in New York to Participate in UN General Assembly

The Russian delegation, led by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, arrived in New York on Wednesday to attend the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly.

Russian Ambassador to the UN Vasily Nebenzya stated that Lavrov has a tight schedule with meetings scheduled every 10 minutes.

Lavrov will also participate in events organized by various organizations, including the Collective Security Treaty Organization, the BRICS group, and the Friends of the United Nations Charter group. He is set to meet with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

Nebenzya noted that there are no plans for Lavrov to meet his American counterpart, Antony Blinken, and the United States has not requested bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

However, Russia will consider such proposals if they are put forward.

Earlier, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced that Lavrov is expected to hold around 20 bilateral meetings in New York.

The main event on his agenda will be the speech he delivers during the political debate of the General Assembly on September 23.

For the first time, Russian journalists working at the United Nations General Assembly are subject to restricted movement visas.

The TASS news agency reported that in previous years, Russian media representatives were issued first-type journalist visas.

This year, the US Consulate issued C2 visas, which allow travel to the United States "for the immediate transit to the United Nations headquarters."

In practical terms, this means that Russian press representatives will not be able to visit Washington, for example, for conducting interviews.