Russia orders travel bans in Ukraine row
PHOTO | AFP United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon (left) speaks with Russia's President Vladimir Putin during their meeting in the Kremlin in Moscow on March 20, 2014.
What you need to know:
- Kremlin list out
- Moscow said Washington did not want to acknowledge that residents of the Russian-speaking peninsula of Crimea had overwhelmingly voted to split from Ukraine and join Russia and that the move was in line with international law.
MOSCOW
Russia said Thursday it was introducing its own sanctions against US officials, minutes after US President Barack Obama announced new sanctions against Russian officials over the Crimea crisis.
“There should be no doubt: each hostile attack will be met in an adequate manner,” the Russian foreign ministry said, adding that nine Obama aides and senators would not be able to enter Russia.
Moscow’s blacklist includes Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, House Speaker John Boehner and Robert Menendez, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, as well as senators John McCain, Mary Landrieu and Daniel Coats.
Also on the list are Obama aides Caroline Atkinson, Daniel Pfeiffer and Benjamin Rhodes. The foreign ministry said the travel bans had been introduced in response to a US move Monday to slap financial sanctions on seven top Russian government officials and lawmakers.
“We have repeatedly warned that the use of sanctioning instruments is a two-way street and will hit the United States as a boomerang,” the ministry said.
FAILED TO ACKNOWLEDGE REFERENDUM VOTE
Moscow said Washington did not want to acknowledge that residents of the Russian-speaking peninsula of Crimea had overwhelmingly voted to split from Ukraine and join Russia and that the move was in line with international law.
“One may not like that decision but we are talking about a reality which needs to be taken into account,” the foreign ministry said.
President Obama meanwhile imposed sanctions on more Russian officials and a bank Thursday and threatened to target the broader Russian economy if Moscow escalates its actions against Ukraine.
Mr Obama said: “Russia must know that further escalation will only isolate it further from the international community.” The new measures targeted a new list of 20 lawmakers and senior government officials in addition to 11 people already sanctioned by Washington.
