Russia publishes long list of Americans banned from entry
Highlights
- Russia has published a long list of Americans who have been permanently banned from entry
- The blacklist was formed in response to constantly imposed anti-Russian sanctions by the US
- Russia also halted gas exports to neighboring Finland on Saturday
The Russian Foreign Ministry has unveiled a long list of 963 US citizens, who are permanently barred from entering Russia, including previously named US President Joe Biden.
The blacklist was formed in response to constantly imposed anti-Russian sanctions by the United States, the Ministry said on Saturday in a statement, adding that the hostile actions, which boomerang against Washington itself, will continue to receive a proper response.
Earlier on Saturday, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced that 26 Canadian nationals are permanently banned from entering Russia in retaliation to Ottawa's anti-Russian sanctions, including the wife of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Russia cuts off gas exports to Finland
Meanwhile, Russia also halted gas exports to neighboring Finland on Saturday, a highly symbolic move that came just days after the Nordic country announced it wanted to join NATO and marked a likely end to Finland’s nearly 50 years of importing natural gas from Russia.
The measure taken by the Russian energy giant Gazprom was in line with an earlier announcement following Helsinki’s refusal to pay for the gas in rubles as Russian President Vladimir Putin has demanded European countries do since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24.
The Finnish state-owned gas company Gasum said that “natural gas supplies to Finland under Gasum’s supply contract have been cut off” by Russia on Saturday morning at 7 a.m. local time (0400 GMT).
The announcement follows Moscow’s decision to cut off electricity exports to Finland earlier this month and an earlier decision by the Finnish state-controlled oil company Neste to replace imports of Russian crude oil with crude oil from elsewhere.
(With inputs from agencies)
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