Russia has imposed sanctions against US President Joe Biden, his son, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, other US officials, and “individuals associated with them,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.
“In response to a series of unprecedented sanctions prohibiting, among other things, entry into the United States for top officials of the Russian Federation, from March 15 of this year, the Russian 'stop list' includes on the basis of reciprocity President J. Biden, Secretary of State A. Blinken, Secretary of Defense L. Austin and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff M. Milley, as well as a number of department heads and prominent US figures,” the statement read.
The statement went on to explain that this retaliation step was “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.”
“At the same time, we do 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,” the statement continues.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki on Tuesday addressed Russia’s recent sanctions against top US officials, suggesting the restrictions will not have much of an impact on their intended targets.
“(I)t 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,” Psaki told reporters during the White House press briefing when asked about the sanctions’ impact.
Psaki also noted that Russia’s statement on the sanctions omitted that “President Biden is a ‘Junior,’” joking that “they may have sanctioned his dad, may he rest in peace.”
Here is a list of people included in Russia’s “stop list”:
US President Joe Biden
Secretary of State Antony Blinken
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley
National security adviser Jacob Sullivan
CIA Director William Burns
White House press secretary Jen Psaki
Daleep Singh, Biden's deputy national security adviser for international economics
United States Agency for International Development Administrator Samantha Power
President Biden's son Hunter Biden
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo
Reta Jo Lewis, president and chairman of the board of directors of the Export-Import Bank.
The statement announces more sanctions will follow to expand the list by including “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.”
Russian government and its banking and other institutions will collectively carry out these sanctions, it added, CNN reports.
