Russia Imposes Retaliatory Sanctions Against Nearly 400 Members of US Congress

Russia Imposes Retaliatory Sanctions Against Nearly 400 Members of US Congress
The Capitol Building in Washington on Jan. 30, 2018. (Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times)

Russia announced on Wednesday that it had imposed sanctions on nearly 400 members of U.S. Congress in retaliation to a similar move by Washington against more than 300 Russian lawmakers last month.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said in an April 13 statement the “mirror sanctions” against 398 members include “the leadership and committee chairmen of the lower house of U.S. Congress.”

The announcement comes in response to sanctions against 328 members of the 450-seat Russian State Duma, or lower house of parliament, on March 24. The United States put the sanctions in place following the ongoing war in Ukraine, which Moscow calls a special military operation.

The move blocked all property the 328 lawmakers held in the United States and banned them from any dealings with American citizens.

“New announcements of Russian countermeasures are planned in the near future,” Moscow said in the April 13 release, noting that more Americans will be added to the sanctioned list and other “retaliatory steps” in what Moscow calls a “stop list.”

U.S. Congress has a total of 535 voting members—100 senators and 435 representatives—which means some are not on the Russian sanctions list.

Lawmakers who have been critical of Ukraine, including Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) and Rep. Marjorie Greene (R-Georgia), are included in the Kremlins’ stop list.

Members of Congress who are not included in the list, despite being vocal critics of Russian President Vladimir Putin, include Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.).

In addition, the ministry noted that other lawmakers, including Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), have already been banned from traveling to Russia and more Americans will be added to its travel ban list in the near future.

Russia didn’t only target U.S. lawmakers in its latest move. Moscow also imposed tit-for-tat sanctions on 87 Canadian senators and will add other people on an international level to its stop list in the future.

Canada announced in February that it was adding 351 members of the 450-seat Russian State Duma to its sanctions list.

The ministry said the latest wave of sanctions would mirror punitive measures imposed by the United States, but Moscow gave few details, apart from saying all those on the list will be barred from visiting Russia.

Last month, Russia also imposed sanctions against U.S. President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and a list of other top-ranking U.S. officials and well-known American figures in a tit-for-tat exchange with the West.

Russia’s stop list also includes Biden’s son Hunter Biden and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

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