The refusal of the US to issue visas to Spartak Moscow football players is an example of unfair competition using political resources, a source in the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
"This is an obvious use of political resources. One of the reasons, probably, is unfair competition in those areas in which Russians are not allowed to participate in events taking place in the United States," the source said.
According to the source, "the United States has launched a real visa war against the Russians; everyone suffers: artists, cultural figures, athletes."
"Visas are either not issued, or issued at a time when the events are in full swing or have passed," the source said.
Earlier, the United States failed to issues visas to allow 18 Russian diplomats to participate in this year's meetings of the UN General Assembly First and Sixth Committees, which deal with disarmament and international security and legal matters, respectively.
In October, the UN Committee on Relations with the Host Country convened a meeting to address the question of diplomats from Russia, Cuba and Iran, among others, not receiving US visas to work at the organization’s headquarters in New York.