Russia denies visit to American reporter in visa retaliation

Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich stands in a glass cage in a courtroom at the Moscow City Court (Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP)

Russia’s Foreign Ministry has denied a US request for a consular visit to Evan Gershkovich, an American reporter for The Wall Street Journal who is jailed on espionage charges.

The ministry said it rejected the request for the May 11 visit in retaliation for the US refusing to grant visas to Russian journalists who planned to accompany Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov on a trip to the United Nations.