Russia permanently banned the entry into the country on Saturday of the President of the United States, Joe Biden, and 962 other American citizens, in response to Washington’s sanctions on Moscow for the call "special military operation" in Ukraine.
"We stress that Washington’s hostile actions will boomerang against the US and will be duly rejected."the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement announcing the move.
Moscow stressed that "the counter-russian sanctions are binding in nature and aim to bind the US ruling regimewhich attempts to impose a rules-based neo-colonial world order on the rest of the world, to change their behavior and to recognize the new geopolitical realities".
"Russia does not seek confrontation and is open to dialogue frank, respectful, differentiating the American people, who have always enjoyed our respect, from the US authorities, who encourage Russophobia, and from those who serve them. Precisely these people are included in the Russian ‘black list’"Foreign added.
Biden is on the list, sorted alphabetically in Russian, at number 31, followed by his son Hunter.
Among the senior American officials sanctioned are, among others, the Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, the Minister of Defense, Lloyd Austin, and the Director of the CIA, William Burns.
The sanctions were announced shortly after Washington reported that Biden enacted in Seoul the bill that includes an additional aid package to Ukraine for almost 40,000 million dollars.