Russia’s list includes Joe Biden, Mark Zuckerberg and Morgan Freeman. (File)
Moscow:
Russia on Saturday released a list of 963 leading Americans, including US President Joe Biden, Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg and Hollywood actor Morgan Freeman, and barred them from entering the country in retaliation for a similar move by Washington since the invasion of Ukraine.
The list includes Russian government officials, US government officials, lawmakers and other leading figures.
Moscow has already announced sanctions targeting many on the list, most notably Joe Biden, his secretary of state Anthony Blinken, Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin and Mark Zuckerberg.
Morgan Freeman, whose name has not been released by Russian authorities before, accused Moscow of recording a video in 2017 claiming that Russia was conspiring against the United States.
Russia’s foreign ministry said in a statement that “Russia’s counter-sanctions are necessary and the United States, which is trying to impose a neo-colonial ‘world order’ on the rest of the world … wants to change its position and recognize the new geopolitical realities.” . In a statement on Saturday.
It added that Moscow was open to “honest dialogue” and made a distinction between the American people and the “inciting Russophobia” authorities.
Since the invasion of Ukraine, Moscow has banned hundreds of “Anglo-Saxons” from Russia.
On Saturday, it said it had banned 26 more Canadians, including Sophie Trudeau, the wife of Canada’s prime minister.
(Except for the title, this story was not edited by NDTV staff and was published from a syndicated feed.)
