Moscow responds to EU's 'unfriendly actions,' bans bloc members from entering Russia

Russia on Friday (Feb 23rd) announced a significant expansion of the list of European Union officials and politicians banned from entering Russia. This comes in response to the latest round of sanctions by the bloc.

'Fruitless attempts'

In a statement the Russian foreign ministry called the European Union's latest sanctions "fruitless attempts to put pressure," and said that the prohibitions are a response to the "unfriendly actions."

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"The European Union is continuing its fruitless attempts to put pressure on Russia through unilateral restrictive measures," it said.

"In response to these unfriendly actions, the Russian side has significantly expanded the list of representatives of European institutions and EU member states, who…are prohibited from entering the territory of our state."

As per a Reuters report quoting the Russian foreign ministry, the latest stop list includes representatives of law enforcement agencies and commercial organisations who provided military assistance to its neighbour, Ukraine. Additionally, representatives of European institutions involved in the prosecution of Russian officials, and those who gathered material to support the idea of confiscating Russian state assets feature on the said list.

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"The Russian retaliatory 'stop list' also includes representatives of the Council of Europe, members of the legislative assemblies of European Union countries, members of the OSCE PA (Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe) and the PACE (Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe), who systematically make aggressive statements against Russia," said the statement.

EU's sanctions on Ukraine

On Wednesday (Feb 21st), EU member states approved the 13th package of Ukraine-related sanctions against Russia. These sanctions ban nearly 200 entities and individuals accused of helping Moscow procure weapons or of involvement in kidnapping Ukrainian children, a charge vehemently denied by Moscow.

The restrictions which as per Belgium are "one of the broadest approved by the EU" will see 193 entities and individuals added to the list of those banned from travelling to the EU or doing business there. However, no fresh measures were announced against specific economic sectors, reports Reuters citing unnamed EU diplomatic sources.

(With inputs from agencies)