Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Sunday that his country "will not forgive" the United States for refusing to grant visas to Russian journalists who accompany him Monday and Tuesday on his visit to the United Nations.
"We will not forget and we will not forgive," Lavrov said before heading to New York, denouncing Washington's decision as "ridiculous" and "cowardly." Russia assumed the rotating presidency of the UN Security Council in April.
Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov warned against further retaliatory measures, quoted by state news agencies as saying: "We will find ways to respond to this so that the Americans remember for a long time that these things should not be done."
The RIA Novosti news agency also quoted a diplomatic source as saying that after the incident "American journalists will suffer harassment and trouble."
Last month, American journalist Ivan Gershkovich was arrested in Russia on espionage charges, which the journalist vehemently denied as well as the newspaper where he works.
RIA Novosti quoted the diplomatic source as saying that the visa incident proves Washington's "imaginary concern" for Gerichkovitch, explaining that "otherwise they will not treat Russian journalists in this way."