RUSSIALINK: “Shvydkoi upset that Bolshoi actors fail to get U.S. visas, sees explanations as ‘weak'” – Interfax

MOSCOW. April 23 (Interfax) – Russian Special Presidential Representative on International and Cultural Cooperation Mikhail Shvydkoi said he was disappointed to learn that a number of Bolshoi Theater performers were unable to receive visas for a United States tour.

“I was upset to learn that Bolshoi Theater actors did not receive visas for a U.S. tour,” Shvydkoi told Interfax.

“The problem of visas is always a pressing problem, but references to a lack of consular workers are a weak argument,” Shvydkoi said.

It should be taken into consideration that “creative people have their own schedule of work, they are often on tour, and postponing visa issuance dates even by several months is extremely dangerous to the development of cultural cooperation,” he said.

“I think if we want to preserve the volume of cultural ties, this problem should be given serious consideration. Every war, even a cold one, ends in peace, and we will have to look each other in the eye and ask ourselves whether we did all we could to preserve such important forms of cooperation as cooperation in the cultural field,” he said.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said on April 21 that it regretted that the actors did not receive U.S. visas.