MOSCOW. May 22 (Interfax) - Moscow will take measures in response to the Canadian authorities' decision to deny entry-visas for a Russian delegation planning to attend a meeting of the Operational Experts Group of the Non-Proliferation and Disarmament Initiative, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on its website on Friday.
"Beyond any doubt, such unfriendly actions will not go unanswered," it said.
This decision "is overtly unfriendly and contradicts the standard rules for organizing multilateral events," the ministry said.
"To our regret, the authorities in Ottawa are fueling this Russophobic hysteria for reasons linked with their domestic policy and are challenging common sense as, by way of accomplished fact, they try to decide who can and who cannot participate in this important multilateral event, which will be held on Canadian territory," it said.
Russia, as a key partner in the fight against the spread of weapons of mass destruction, is a fully-fledged member of this initiative and does not need any "favors" from Canada, the ministry said.
"Non-proliferation is a very serious area of international cooperation. And steps to settle local political scores, with which Stephen Harper's government has become so obsessed recently, are inappropriate and counter-productive," the Russian ministry said.