Russia bars entry to 7 UK citizens in response to sanctions

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova made the announcement in an official commentary Friday.

"In response to the unfriendly actions of London, and based on the principle of reciprocity, Russia made a decision to impose personal sanctions against a similar number of British citizens, deeply involved in anti-Russian activities. They are barred from entering the Russian Federation," the diplomat stated, TASS reported.

The commentary underscored that Russia considers London’s unmotivated outburst "a practical confirmation of the British government’s intention to keep following the destructive course in bilateral relations."

"We regret to state that the consecutive revving up of sanctions flywheel by the British authorities nullifies all attempts made by the Russian side at various levels to return the international relations back on a constructive track," the statement says.

"Once again, we call on the UK authorities to abolish the confrontational line regarding our country. No unfriendly steps will be left without a proportional response," Zakharova added.

On August 20, UK authorities imposed sanctions against seven Federal Security Service (FSB) employees, whom they consider involved in the Alexey Navalny incident.

This is the second sanctions package, imposed over the blogger incident. In October last year, British authorities imposed restrictions against six Russian citizens, including First Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration Sergey Kiriyenko and FSB Director Alexander Bortnikov.

RHM/PR