Mr. Barack Obama. Photo: AFP
The Russian Foreign Ministry on May 19 published a list of 500 US citizens - including former President Barack Obama - banned from entering the country with immediate effect. The ban is a response to ongoing US sanctions against Russia.
“It is time for Washington to know that no attack against Russia will go without a strong response,” the Russian Foreign Ministry stressed.
In retaliation for the US Embassy in Russia revoking the visas of Russian journalists — preventing them from accompanying Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to the UN Security Council meeting last month — the Russian government has denied the US Embassy permission to visit Evan Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter accused of espionage.
In addition to Mr. Obama, Russia's "blacklist" also lists many members of the US Congress, governors and attorneys general of several US states, as well as former officials currently working at famous consulting organizations, and military contractors supplying weapons to Ukraine.
Among the Biden administration officials blacklisted are Assistant Secretary of State for Energy Resources Geoffrey Pyatt (who served as U.S. ambassador to Ukraine in 2014); James Rubin, a former State Department spokesman and now head of the Center for Global Engagement; State Department adviser Derek Chollet; and Anita Dunn, a senior adviser to President Joe Biden.
Several TV hosts including Jimmy Kimmel, Stephen Colbert, Seth Meyers, Rachel Maddow and Joe Scarborough are also on the banned list.
Think tanks and the military-industrial complex dominate the list of 500 Americans banned from entering Russia. Former Defense Secretary James Mattis was sanctioned for his role on the board of General Dynamics, while former US Ambassador to Russia John Tefft was sanctioned for his role as a senior fellow at the RAND Corporation.
Source: Tin Tuc Newspaper (According to RT)
Source link
Comment (0)