Kremlin blocks Biden, Blinken and other US political figures for ‘lack of decorum’

Russia’s foreign ministry has announced a ban on the entry into Russia of leading US officials, including the US president and secretary of state.

It said that the move had been taken ‘in response to a series of unprecedented sanctions that prohibit, among other things, entry to the United States for top officials of the Russian Federation,’ and that those included on its ‘stop list’ include, ‘on the basis of reciprocity, President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley, as well as several agency heads and other prominent US figures.

‘This step, taken as a response measure, is the inevitable result of the extreme Russophobic policy of the current US Administration, which, in a desperate attempt to maintain American hegemony, has abandoned any sense of decorum and placed its bets on the head-on containment of Russia.’

Others blocked include national security advisor Jake Sullivan, press secretary Jennifer Psaki, and CIA director William Burns.

But the ministry added, ‘We do not oppose maintaining official ties when it is in our national interests, and, if necessary, we will address the issues arising from the status of the black-listed individuals in order to organise high-level contacts.’

It said, ‘More announcements will be made soon concerning the expansion of the sanctions list to include other top US officials, military leaders, lawmakers, business executives, experts and media personalities who promote Russophobia or contribute to inciting hatred of Russia or imposing restrictive measures. These actions will be taken in harmony with the major decisions of the Government of the Russian Federation in finance, banking and other areas to protect the Russian economy and ensure its stable development.’

https://mid.ru/ru/foreign_policy/news/1804365/?lang=en&clear_cache=Y