OREANDA-NEWS. The Deputy Chairman of the Russian State Duma Committee on International Affairs Alexey Chepa said that Moscow authorities should react to the decision of the USA not to issue visas to some members of the Russian delegation at the United Nations General Assembly which runs from September 24 to 30 in New York.

In his opinion, one of the variants of such a response to the “diplomatic piquing” from Washington could be the abolition of the lottery of American green cards in Russia. “I think we can ban all kinds of events like the green card lottery that the United States conduct on the basis of its image of “a stronghold of democracy.” Our acts will be such that everyone draws attention to it,” the deputy said. For instance, as Chepa explained, the authorities can restrict access to the website on which people who want to get a green card are registered, or impede the work of agencies that help them with paperwork.

Green card is an identity card confirming that its holder has a right to live and work in the United States, and has the same rights as an American citizen, except voting. The green card lottery takes place annually, its purpose is to encourage the immigration of citizens of those countries whose inhabitants are poorly represented in the country.

As for the visas for Russian delegation at UN session, the American authorities said they were not issued because of the technical reasons.

Stéphane Dujarric , the Spokesperson for the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, noted that the organization was going to find out all the circumstances of the incident. His deputy Farhan Haq reminded that according to the agreement between the UN and the USA Washington should allow delegations to come to events that are held under the aegis of the organization.