Russia says it's sanctioning Biden, Hillary Clinton and top U.S. officials
As sanctions imposed by the U.S., the European Union and allies continue to roil Russia's economy, Russia responded by issuing sanctions of its own against top American officials.
Russia's foreign ministry said it was issuing a "stop list" to prevent members of the Biden administration from entering Russia.
"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," the foreign ministry said in a statement.
The list includes President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley, national security adviser Jake Sullivan, CIA Director William Burns, press secretary Jen Psaki, deputy national security adviser Daleep Singh, USAID Administrator Samantha Power, Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo and U.S. Export-Import Bank President and Chair Reta Jo Lewis.
Hillary Clinton and President Biden's son, Hunter Biden, are also on the list.
Psaki downplayed the significance of the announcement Tuesday, saying "none of us are planning tourist trips to Russia, none of us have bank accounts that we won't be able to access, so we will forge ahead."
The U.S. and allies have sanctioned Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov personally over Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Russia said it would soon announce more sanctions on U.S. officials, lawmakers, business people and media personalities that the country accuses of "Russophobia."
Russia also said on Tuesday that it was sanctioning top Canadian officials, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and more than 300 lawmakers and officials.
Western countries have imposed a plethora of sanctions against Russian oligarchs and officials, Russian companies, Russian oil and Russian banks.
International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said on Sunday that the sanctions are having a severe impact on Russia's economy.
"We expect a deep recession in Russia," she told CBS. [Copyright 2022 NPR]
