Russia sanctions US President Joe Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

The Russian government imposed sanctions against the president of the United States, Joe Biden, the secretary of state, Antony Blinken, high-ranking officials of that country, as well as the prime minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, and two ministers of his government.

This, in response to similar measures taken by the United States and Canada in retaliation for the invasion of Ukraine.

According to a statement from the Russian Foreign Ministry, among those sanctioned Americans are also the Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin; Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley; National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan; CIA Director William Burns; White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki; Biden’s son Hunter; and former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, among others.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said the move was taken “in response to a series of unprecedented sanctions that prohibit, among other things, the entry of senior Russian officials into the United States,” the Russian news agency TASS reported.

He defended that this is an “inevitable consequence” of the “extremely Russophobic course taken by the current US Administration.”

However, he specified that Moscow “does not refuse to maintain official relations” with the United States if these respond to its “national interests.” “If necessary, we will resolve the issues arising from the status of people on the blacklist to organize high-level contacts,” he said.

The Russian government also banned Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as well as Foreign and Defense Ministers Mélanie Joly and Anita Anand, from entering the country.

According to a statement from the Russian Foreign Ministry, collected by the Russian news agency Interfax, most members of the Canadian House of Commons are also included in the ‘blacklist’. In total, there are 313 people.

The Russian ministry explained that the measure was taken “forcibly” and “in response to hostile actions. “Each Russophobic attack, each attack against Russian diplomatic missions, the closure of airspace, the breaking of bilateral economic ties by Ottawa – to the detriment of its own interests – will have a symmetrical response,” he stressed, according to the TASS agency. .

The United States, in coordination with its partners, has imposed a series of sanctions on Russia in response to the invasion of Ukraine, including a ban on the import of Russian oil or other products, such as vodka. It has also restricted trade relations with the Eurasian country.

Canada on Tuesday expanded its sanctions against Moscow, adding another 15 individuals, including, for example, Economic Development Minister Maxim Reshetnikov.