MOSCOW. April 27 (Interfax) - The Russian Foreign Ministry has declined the U.S. request for consular access to arrested Wall Street Journal correspondent Evan Gershkovich on May 11, in response to the denial of visas to Russian journalists for a trip to New York, the ministry said in a statement on its website on Wednesday.
A senior diplomat of the U.S. embassy in Moscow was summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry on April 27, the statement said. "An official protest was made, and a protest note was presented in connection with the provocative conduct of the U.S. diplomatic mission, which thwarted the issuing of visas to mass media representatives from the press pool of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who were supposed to accompany him on his trip to New York as part of Russia's presidency of the UN Security Council," it said.
"The U.S. embassy was informed in this connection that its request for consular access to U.S. citizen Gershkovich, detained on suspicion of espionage, on May 11 was declined," the ministry said.
"Other possible response measures, about which the U.S. side will be duly notified, are being considered," it said.