Russia Sanctions 398 US Congressmen and 87 Canadian Senators

Russia sanctioned today 398 congressmen of the House of Representatives of USA and 87 senators from Canada in response to the sanctions imposed by Washington and Ottawa against deputies of the Russian Duma (Lower House) and the Federation Council (Senate) for the military campaign in Ukraine.

Look: Putin assures that Russia will fulfill the “totally clear and noble” objectives of protecting Donbas

“In the near future, there will be further announcements regarding the expansion of the sanctions list and other retaliatory measures,” both in the case of USA like in Canadathe Russian Foreign Ministry warned in two statements.

The measure taken by Sergei Lavrov’s portfolio follows the sanctions imposed by the US on March 24 against 328 Duma deputies, which, taking into account the Russian parliamentarians previously included in the US blacklist, “constitutes almost the entire Hemicycle”, made up of 450 seats.

Given the Russia had previously vetoed the entry of several US legislators into the country, such as the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, according to Moscow now with the new round of sanctions “all” congressmen are now included on the Russian list based on to “reciprocity”.

Among other sanctions, the US Treasury Department included the Russian Duma three weeks ago on its list of banned entities, and froze any assets under the jurisdiction of USA that may have 328 members of that Lower House of Russia.

“The Russian State Duma continues to support the invasion of (President Vladimir) Putin, restricting the free flow of information and violating the basic rights of Russian citizens,” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said.

The Treasury also recalled that, in February, the Duma approved a call for Putin to recognize the self-proclaimed pro-Russian republics of Donetsk and Lugansk as independent, “despite the fact that they are part of Ukraine.”

In the case of CanadaOttawa sanctioned the same day that USA to 160 senators of the Council of the Russian Federation (Upper House) and therefore has responded by prohibiting the entry into the country of 87 Canadian congressmen.

Russia considers this measure “unfriendly”, contrary to national interests, since Canada “tries to be at the forefront of the Russophobic course of the current US Administration,” said Foreign Affairs spokeswoman María Zajárova.

“The continuation of this myopic line, reflecting the failure and dependence of Canadian foreign policy, can only increase the damage done to Canada itself and its relations with Russia, given the inevitable Russian response,” he added.

Source: Elcomercio

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