Russia sanctions Biden, Trudeau, US, Canadian officials
MOSCOW – Russia’s foreign ministry announced sanctions on US President Joe Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Tuesday (15) alongside several officials in a reciprocal response to Western measures.
The measures, also applied to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin, “is the consequence of the extremely Russophobic policy pursued by” Washington, Moscow said in a statement.
In a separate statement, Russia’s foreign ministry announced punitive measures against 313 Canadians including Trudeau and several of his ministers.
In response to Russia’s military intervention in Ukraine, the US banned Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov while adopting sanctions largely cutting Russia off from the rest of the world financially.
Moscow did not specify the exact nature of the measures, which it calls “personal sanctions” and a “stop list”, stating that they would be based on “the principle of reciprocity”.
Also on the Russian list are US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, Central Intelligence Agency Director William Burns and White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki.
On the list too are Deputy National Security Advisor Daleep Singh, US Agency for International Development chief Samantha Power, Deputy Treasury Secretary Adewale Adeyemo, and US Export-Import Bank chief Reta Jo Lewis.
Russia also banned from entry Biden’s son Hunter and former secretary of state and Democrat presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.
The foreign ministry warned Moscow will soon announce additional sanctions against a range of ‘Russophobic’ US officials, military officers, lawmakers, businessmen and media personalities.
– Agence France-Presse