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LONDON – Russia said on Saturday it had so far barred 963 Americans from entering the country – including previously announced measures against President Joe Biden and other top officials – and would continue to retaliate against what it called “hostile US action.”
Since the February 24 invasion of Ukraine, Russia has created a massively symbolic travel ban as part of a downward spiral in relations with the West, prompting Washington and its allies to impose tougher sanctions on Moscow and increase arms supplies to Ukraine.
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Separately, the State Department said it had added 26 new names to a list of Canadians barred from traveling to Russia, including Sophie Gregor Trudeau, chief of defense, defense industry executive and wife of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Releasing a full list of banned Americans for the first time, the ministry said: “We emphasize that the hostile actions taken by Washington, which has boomeranged against the United States, will continue to be retaliated against.”
It says Russian counter-sanctions were a necessary response aimed at “forcing the ruling American regime, which is trying to impose a neo-colonial ‘rule-based world order’ on the rest of the world, to change its behavior, with new geopolitical recognition.” Reality. “
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Earlier, the list included Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and CIA Director William Burns.
Canada’s new list comes four days after Canadian President Vladimir Putin and his government and nearly 1,000 members of the military introduced a bill banning travel there.
It included Jacqueline Paul, Eric Kenny and Angus Topshi, who were named new chiefs of the Canadian Army, Air Force and Navy last month, and executives of the company, including Lockheed Martin Canada and Raytheon Canada.
Russia has already banned Justin Trudeau, Finance Minister Christiaan Freeland and hundreds of other Canadians from entering the country in response to the sanctions. (Reporting by Mark Trevelian, Editing by Timothy Heritage)