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Russia slaps entry ban on Canadians who intentionally damaged bilateral ties

"The list is long, with dozens of names on it," the Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova Valery Sharifulin/TASS
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova
© Valery Sharifulin/TASS

MOSCOW, November 9. /TASS/. Russia’s blacklist in response to Canada’s sanctions includes individuals who purposefully worsened bilateral relations, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Thursday.

"It includes those individuals who were purposefully working to undermine bilateral relations between Russia and Canada and in a planned manner and were making extremely anti-Russian and Russophobic remarks and were seen participating in or even organizing anti-Russian actions, campaigns and measures," the spokeswoman said.

As the Russian diplomat said, Moscow never publishes any full sanctions lists.

"Again, the practice of informing [persons on the blacklists] is not new: once they apply for a visa, these individuals will get the relevant refusals with the corresponding explanation," Zakharova stated.

"We would like this detrimental practice to end after all," she added. "Unfortunately, the attention of the media and the entire potential of the Canadian establishment are pointed in Russia’s direction and are focused on drawing attention to such actions."

On November 3, Ottawa slapped sanctions on 30 Russian citizens under the recently adopted Justice for Victims of Corrupt Foreign Officials Act, which is also known as the Sergey Magnitsky Act and is a Canadian version of the US Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act. Besides, the sanctions were introduced against the citizens of Venezuela and South Sudan. There are a total of 52 persons on the list.

In response to Canada’s anti-Russian measures, Moscow decided to ban entry to Russia for a number of Canadians. Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said "the list is long, with dozens of names on it".