Visa Dispute Stalls U.S.-Soviet Talks on Airline Flights

ANCHORAGE, Alaska —  U.S.-Soviet airline talks were stalled Thursday after a Soviet delegation arrived in Alaska without 20 of its members who had been refused U.S. visas, delegation organizer Gennady Alfrenko said.

“Our Soviet delegation spent all day in the (Moscow) airport trying to receive visas,” Alfrenko told reporters at Anchorage International Airport.

He said almost 20 of the 73-member group were forced to remain in the Soviet Union after the U.S. Embassy in Moscow refused to issue them visas.

There was no immediate U.S. comment on why visas were denied.

Alfrenko said those left behind were “very upset,” including the senior Soviet official who was supposed to head negotiations.