11 US Defense Officials Sanctioned, Moscow Responds To Ban President Biden Until CIA Boss Enters Russia

US President Joe Biden with Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin. (Wikimedia Commons/US Secretary of Defense)

JAKARTA - Russia has barred US President Joe Biden and a number of top government officials from entering his country, added Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, in retaliation for sanctions against previous Moscow officials.

In its announcement Tuesday, Russia included President Biden, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, and CIA Chief William Burns on a no-go list.

Citing Reuters March 16, the list also contains the names of former secretary of state and presidential candidate for the United States, Hillary Clinton, wife of the 42nd President of the United States Bill Clinton.

The ban was in response to sanctions imposed by Washington on Russian officials. The State Department later added Prime Minister Trudeau to the list of sanctioned individuals.

The moves appear to be largely symbolic, as the Foreign Ministry says it maintains official ties and, if necessary, will ensure high-level contacts with those on the list can be established.

Earlier, the US State Department announced the imposition of sanctions on 11 high-ranking representatives of the country's military and defense industry officials, following previous sanctions related to the invasion of Ukraine.

The sanctions include Head of Russia's National Guard Viktor Zolotov, Head of Russia's Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation Dmitry Shugayev, Rosoboronexport CEO Alexander Mikheyev, and eight Russian Deputy Defense Ministers.

"The world has watched in horror as Russia has carried out a premeditated, unprovoked, and unjustified attack against Ukraine. Russia's further invasion of Ukraine," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement, TASS reported.

"Today, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs continues to impose heavy costs on Russian defense leaders. The following eleven persons are being appointed in accordance with EO 14024 Part 1(a)(i), as persons operating or have operated in the defense and material sectors of the Federation economy Russia," the statement continued.

Other names on the sanctions list include Russian Deputy Defense Minister Alexey Krivoruchko, Timur Ivanov, Yunus-Bek Evkurov, Dmitry Bulgakov, Yury Sadovenko, Nikolay Pankov, Ruslan Tsalikov, and Gennady Zhidko.

Its inclusion on the sanctions list would mean the freezing of all US assets and a ban on US citizens or companies from doing business with the people on the list, the statement notes.

It is known, Russian President Vladimir Putin authorized a special military operation in Ukraine on February 24, as a step for demilitarization and denazification. Russia said it would not occupy Ukrainian territory and did not target civilians.

Ukraine along with Western countries condemned this invasion, followed by a series of sanctions against Russian officials, individuals, and companies by the United States, Britain, the European Union and many other countries.