Russia sanctions US officials to a “stop list” not allowing them to enter Russia. Among those on the list were President Joe Biden and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Even non-government officials like former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Hunter Biden are on the list.
Russian Foreign Ministry released the statement and said that the sanctions were “an inevitable consequence of the extremely Russophobic course taken by the current US Administration, which, in a desperate attempt to maintain American hegemony, has relied, discarding all decency, on the frontal constricting of Russia.”
The Russian government also plans to expand the list to “top US officials, military officials, lawmakers, businessmen, experts and media people who are Russophobic or contribute to inciting hatred towards Russia and the introduction of restrictive measures.”
They added that the Russian government does “not refuse to maintain official relations if they meet our national interests, and, if necessary, we will solve problems arising from the status of persons who appear on the ‘black list’ in order to organize high-level contacts.”
“It won’t surprise any of you that none of us are planning tourist trips to Russia, none of us have bank accounts that we won’t be able to access, so we will forge ahead,” said White House press secretary Jen Psaki. He assured that they would still have the ability to have direct contact with Russia.
The decision of Russia to sanction the US was “to protect the Russian economy and ensure its sustainable development.”
Russia on Tuesday also announced it is banning Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly, and Canadian Defense Minister Anita Anand from entering the country, the Russian Foreign Ministry tweeted on Tuesday.