‘Even Cold war did not come to this’: Moscow on US visa denial to Russian ballet dancers

The Russian Foreign Ministry slammed the US government for “artificially” creating conditions to halt the issuing of visas after Russian Bolshoi Theater performers were denied entry. “Even during the Cold War it did not come to this,” the ministry said in a statement on Saturday, adding that art has always served for easing tensions. The move is aimed to “pressure” Russia and “fence off American from Russian with a visa wall,” according to the foreign ministry.