Moscow (Times Of Ocean)- Russia announced it has placed U.S. President Joe Biden, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and a dozen top US officials on a “stop list”, barring them from entering the country. #Sanctions
Alongside Biden, US officials on the list included Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, CIA chief William Burns and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan.
The pseudo ban was in response to sanctions issued by Washington on Russian officials amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Later on Tuesday, the Russian foreign ministry added Trudeau to the list of sanctioned individuals.
Others on the Russian “stop list” included Deputy National Security Adviser Daleep Singh, US Agency for International Development chief Samantha Power, Deputy Treasury Secretary Adewale Adeyemo, and US Export-Import Bank chief Reta Jo Lewis.
Hunter Biden, the son of former Vice President Joe Biden and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton were also barred from entering Russia.
The measures appeared to be mainly symbolic, as Kremlin said it was maintaining official relations and if necessary the Russian foreign ministry would make sure that high-level contacts with the people on the list could take place.
“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,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters, adding that the Biden administration was “confident” that it will be able to have “direct and indirect conversations with Russia” should it need to.