MOSCOW, July 26. /TASS/. Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov suggested that a ban on issuing Schengen visas to Russians is likely, but that sort of move would inevitably trigger a response from Moscow.
"We can’t rule out such emotionally-driven actions that would be devoid of common sense. That said, such a possibility cannot be ruled out," he contended.
"It would be a very negative move and, I repeat, it would clearly and inevitably trigger a response from Moscow," the Russian presidential spokesman cautioned.
That being said, Peskov noted that Western countries have exhausted their means of tightening the screws on Moscow. "We can see that EU countries and North American nations are literally vying with each other to impose hostile measures against Russia." "However, we can also see that they are running out of measures in their arsenal that they believe they can use to pressure us and make us change our position, as they mistakenly believe," Peskov stressed.
The Kremlin spokesman noted that Moscow expected its Western partners to adopt a sober approach on issuing Schengen visas. According to Peskov, the Kaliningrad transit situation has made it clear that the West still has some common sense.
A number of Finnish lawmakers earlier suggested banning the issuance of visas to Russians due to the conflict in Ukraine. Head of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Consular Department Ivan Volynkin told TASS that Moscow did not rule out the possibility of a visa ban against Russian nationals.