Statement of the Embassy of the United States of America on Delayed Consular Access

Embassy of the United States of America
Moscow, Russia

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21 February 2019

Statement of the Embassy of the United States of America

Seven days after his detention, the U.S. Embassy still has not received permission from Russian authorities to visit detained American citizen Michael Calvey.

Russia’s obligations under the Bilateral Consular Convention require them to provide consular access within four days.  We have requested this access multiple times.  The Russian Federation’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has not yet complied with the terms of our Bilateral Consular Convention and has not allowed us to provide consular assistance. We have expressed our strong concern about this delay through diplomatic channels.

We insist on access now.