In a tit-for-tat response to embargoes placed against Russia by the U.S. for its invasion of Ukraine, the Russian Foreign Ministry has announced new sanctions against top American officials.
During a press briefing on Tuesday, White House press secretary Jen Psaki dismissed the news, saying that those banned from the country were not "planning tourist trips" there any time soon.
For its part, the Russian agency announced that a "stop list" has been put in place, which will prevent members of the Biden administration, and other top officials, from entering the country.
According to a statement from the Russian Foreign Ministry, those prohibited from entering Russia include President Joe Biden, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, national security adviser Jake Sullivan, CIA Director William Burns, deputy national security adviser Daleep Singh, USAID Administrator Samantha Power, press secretary Psaki, Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo and U.S. Export-Import Bank President and Chair Reta Jo Lewis.
"This step, taken as a response measure, is the inevitable result of the extreme Russophobic policy of the current U.S. 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," the foreign ministry added in the statement.
Along with the top officials, Hillary Clinton and Hunter Biden, the president's son, were also named among those barred from the country.
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Psaki went on to say during her press briefing that those named don't "have bank accounts that we won't be able to access, so we will forge ahead."
The press secretary also joked that President Biden is a Jr., meaning the sanctions may have gone against his father. “May he rest in peace,” she said during the briefing.
However, this isn't the only action Russia will take against the U.S. It announced more sanctions on U.S. officials, business people, media personalities, and lawmakers that the nation says have "Russophobia."
The U.S. isn't the only target either, as Russia announced sanctions for Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Canadian officials, and more than 300 lawmakers.
Russia began its invasion of Ukraine three weeks ago, and since then, a number of sanctions have all but crippled the country's economy, including actions against Putin himself, Russian oligarchs and officials, and Russian companies and banks.
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