WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Sanctioned foreign nationals participating in the September UN General Assembly meeting in New York City will be subject to travel restrictions while in the United States, US State Department spokesman John Kirby said.
"Certain members of delegations to the UN are required to notify us or obtain permission prior to travel outside of a 25-mile radius of Columbus Circle in New York City," Kirby said on Thursday.
The spokesman explained the restrictions are based on "national security."
Earlier in the week, Speaker of Russia's upper house of parliament Valentina Matvienko was granted a limited US entry visa after long delays.
Matvienko was scheduled to participate in a number of high-level, multilateral meetings on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly meeting in New York.
Matvienko was added to the US sanctions list in 2014, which imposed travel bans and asset freezes on a number of Russian officials over conflict in Ukraine.
Meanwhie, William Stevens, the press secretary of the US Embassy in Russia, said Thursday that the United States does not prevent representatives of UN member states from travelling to UN headquarters in New York to participate in events organized by the United Nations.
"We are obligated to not impede the transit to and from UN headquarters for representatives of UN member states invited by the UN on official UN business," Stevens told RIA Novosti.
