Russia imposed sanctions Tuesday on President Biden’s wife, Jill, and daughter, Ashley, along with nearly two dozen other prominent figures — including politicians and academics.
The largely symbolic step was taken “as a response to the ever-expanding US sanctions against Russian political and public figures,” Moscow’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
The 25 Americans who have been added to Kremlin’s so-called “stop list” include Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) and Martin Heinrich (D-NM).
The Foreign Ministry accused those lawmakers of being “responsible for the formation of a Russophobic narrative.”
The people on the list — which also names renowned historians and sociologists — are banned from entering Russian territory indefinitely.
Jill Biden, 71, is currently in Spain with two of her granddaughters, Maisy and Finnegan, ahead of the president’s arrival in Madrid Tuesday to attend the annual NATO summit.
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine Feb. 24, the US and the European Union have slapped sanctions on Russian President Vladimir Putin and key members of his inner circle, including Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his family, along with other high-ranking officials and oligarchs.
Western nations so far have adopted six packages of economic sanctions against Putin’s regime, which have largely cut off Russia’s financial system from international banking, frozen assets belonging to Russia’s elites, and limited Moscow’s ability to sell its oil and gas supplies.
During a G7 meeting in Germany Monday, leaders of the world’s major economies prepared new sanctions against Russia, including a price cap on oil and higher tariffs on goods, as they pledged to support Ukraine “for as long as it takes.”
With Post wires