President Biden Barred From Entering Russia, Kremlin: Contacts Can Be Resumed If Necessary

JAKARTA - A Kremlin spokesman said that the sanctions imposed on President Joe Biden did not mean Russia refused to establish important contacts with the United States.

Russia imposed a ban on entering their country's territory against President Biden and a number of other US officials, in response to sanctions against their defense officials.

"These sanctions do not mean a refusal to establish contact," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, quoted by TASS March 16.

"Contacts can be resumed if necessary," Peskov added.

He added that Russian President Vladimir Putin has not spoken to his colleague President Biden since launching a special military operation in Ukraine on February 24.

It is known, the Russian Foreign Ministry on Tuesday announced sanctions against a number of US officials, including President Joe Biden and 12 other US individuals, barred from entering the territory of the Red Bear Country.

Other names subject to sanctions include Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley, CIA Director William Burns, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki, and Joe Biden's son Hunter Biden.

The Russian Foreign Ministry stressed that Moscow will soon expand the list of people barred from entering Russia.

Earlier, the US State Department announced the imposition of sanctions on 11 high-ranking representatives of Russia'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 on Ukraine. Russia's further invasion of Ukraine," the US State Department said in a statement.

"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.

The other names on the sanctions list are 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.