In response to the sanctions imposed by the United States on the occasion of the invasion of Ukraine, the Russian Government reported in a statement to the Foreign Ministry that starting today, Tuesday, March 15, it applies reciprocal sanctions against US President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in addition to the Secretary of Defense of the United States and several heads of agencies of the United States Government.
The sanctions include a ban on entry into Russian territory for both Biden and the members of his government included in the “black list”, although the Foreign Ministry states in its statement that Russia does not refuse to maintain “official contacts” with those affected, according to local Russian agencies.
Hillary Clinton, one of those sanctioned by the Kremlin, decided to take the news with humor. “I want to thank the Russian Academy for this Achievement Award,” he wrote on Twitter.
On Tuesday, the White House downplayed the sanctions announced by Russia against US President Joe Biden and other US officials, joking that Moscow seems to have the wrong objective in imposing its restrictions.
White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki recalled that the full name of the US president is Joseph Robinette Biden Junior, because his father bears his name, and that the surname does not appear on the sanctions list announced by Russia.
“The president is a 'junior', so his father may have been sanctioned. May he rest in peace,” Psaki said at his daily press conference.
For the rest, Biden's spokeswoman, who is also on the sanctioned list, minimized the impact of Moscow's announcement. “It's no surprise to anyone to know that none of us are planning tourist trips to Russia and none of us have bank accounts that we can't access. So we'll get ahead”, concluded the spokeswoman.
In addition to Biden, Blinken and Psaki, Russia's sanctioned list includes Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin; and Joint Chief of Staff Mark Milley; as well as Biden's national security adviser Jake Sullivan.
Also on the list are the director of the CIA, William Burns, and four other senior officials of the Biden Government, including the director of the American Development Agency (Usaid), Samantha Power.
It is completed by Biden's son, Hunter; and former Secretary of State and former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.
Moscow's announcement is a retaliation for the sanctions imposed by the United States on the occasion of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which affect among others Russian President Vladimir Putin and the country's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
The sanctions imposed by Moscow include a ban on entry into Russian territory for both Biden and his government members on the “black list”. However, the Foreign Ministry states in its statement that Russia does not refuse to maintain “official contacts” with those affected, according to local Russian agencies. The Russian government also announced sanctions on Monday against Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and members of the Canadian parliament.
(With information from EFE)
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