Russia denies US consular visit to jailed journalist Evan Gershkovich

Moscow said Thursday it has denied an upcoming U.S. consular visit to detained Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich in response to Washington’s recent visa refusal for a group of Russian journalists.

Moscow rejected the meeting scheduled for May 11 in retaliation for Washington refusing to issue visas for several Russian journalists, according to AFP.

The Russian foreign ministry said “other potential retaliatory measures are being worked out,” the agency reported.

Last week, Moscow warned it would retaliate after saying the U.S. had denied visa requests for Russian journalists seeking to enter the country to cover Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s trip to New York City. Lavrov chaired the U.N. Security Council meeting in the city on Monday as Russia holds the council’s monthly rotating presidency for April.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said his country would “find ways to respond” to the visa snub, “so that the Americans will remember for a long time not to do this.”