Russia has imposed fresh sanctions against the United States and Canada in retaliation for their new punitive measures on Moscow, the Foreign Ministry said.
Ministry spokesperson Alexander Lukashevich said in a statement on Thursday that Moscow expanded its lists of American and Canadian officials prevented from entering Russia.
“Sanctions are not our method in general, but unfriendly actions force us to respond. The most recent sanctions [imposed by] Washington and Ottawa are no exception,” Lukashevich said.
He said Russia’s measure is not a publicity stunt and therefore the names of the barred individuals would not be revealed.
“Unlike the Americans and Canadians, we have not put on a show… individuals affected by sanctions, [they] will find out when they apply for a visa,” he said.
On April 28, the US slapped visa bans and asset freezes on several high-ranking Russian officials. Washington also imposed sanctions on 17 companies, claiming Moscow had failed to abide by the Geneva agreement to defuse the crisis in Ukraine.
Moreover back in March, the US and Canada announced successive rounds of sanctions over Crimea's integration into the Russian Federation.
Russia answered the first round of US sanctions, barring 11 US officials and lawmakers including Senator John McCain and House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner.
It also imposed sanctions against a number of Canadian officials, lawmakers and public figures in response to Ottawa's bans on Russian authorities over Crimea.
Crimea declared independence from Ukraine and formally applied to become part of the Russian Federation following a referendum on March 16, in which 96.8 percent of Crimeans voted for union with Russia, with a turnout of 83.1 percent.
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