Moscow has reciprocated Washington’s sanctions through imposing a ban on the US President, Joe Biden, and 12 other US officials from entering Russia. According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, Russia had responded to a series of sanctions prohibiting entry into the United States for senior officials of the Russian Federation and included names of top US leadership in the Russian stop list on the basis of reciprocity. The Russian stop list includes President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley, Director CIA, Ambassador William Burns as well as heads of several departments and well-known American figures.
Russia’s relations with the US and the west had witnessed several major twists after Russia annexed Crimea forcefully in 2014, while the alleged Russian interference in America’s Presidential election had deepened this split many folds. The US and allies slapped massive economic sanctions against Russian entities and officials in 2017 and had been repeating this doctrine during the past. However, the US and the west intensified this policy after the Russian invasion of Ukraine and specifically targeted Putin to trash Russian pride, Moscow reacted swiftly and reciprocated the US with the same coin. The US authorities are of the view that these sanctions have no impact on them, while Russian officials hinted that Russia’s sanction list will expand with the inclusion of more senior US officials. Russian authorities had said that Russia will act to protect the Russian economy and sustainable growth through large scale measures in financial, banking, and administrative domains including the imposition of sanctions on western and American entities and individuals in the future. According to experts, the Russia-Ukraine war has turned into a tussle between Russia and the west. Although western nations are limited to economic and financial measures, if Russia runs out of funds, then there is no guarantee that it will not attack other pro-west nations in the coming days, so the parties must act wisely to avoid an outbreak of a global war in the larger interest of the world.
