Russia's U.N. ambassador said on Tuesday that the United States did not grant ​a visa for Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander ‌Alimov to attend a U.N. Security Council meeting and called it a breach of U.S. obligations under the U.N. Headquarters Agreement.

Vassily ​Nebenzia made the comment at meeting of the 15-member ​U.N. Security Council chaired by China's Foreign Minister ⁠Wang Yi that he said Alimov had intended to ​attend, News.az reports, citing Reuters. 

The State Department did not immediately respond to questions about ​Nebenzia's statement.

"The Russian delegation ... based on the invitation of the Foreign Minister Wang Yi should have been represented during today's meeting ​at the level of the Deputy Foreign Minister for ​Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Alexander Alimov, who oversees matters related ‌to ⁠the United Nations," Nebenzia said.

"However, despite all of our attempts to persuade the U.S. side to issue a visa to him, that visa was ultimately not granted," ​he added.Nebenzia said ​that under ⁠the U.N. Headquarters Agreement, access to U.N. headquarters in New York "needs to be provided ​for all officials of member states, barring none."

He ​said ⁠Russia also viewed the issue as "an egregious instance of disrespect for the Chinese presidency of the Security Council, and ⁠of ​the topic that is under discussion ​today, that of the Charter of the United Nations."

News.Az 

By Faig Mahmudov