President Joe Biden and several other US political figures have been sanctioned by Russia, the Kremlin has announced.
Other key officials included in the newly released retaliatory sanctions list are Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin and CIA Director William Burns, as well as high profile non-elected figures including Hillary Clinton and Hunter Biden.
The 'stop list' bars Biden and 12 others named on the list from entering Russia, the state-backed news agency TASS confirmed.
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Russia's foreign ministry said that despite the sanctions naming several high-ranking White House officials, the country would maintain normal diplomatic relations with the United States and would continue to contact those officials named on the list when necessary.
The Kremlin has long promised that it was preparing a 'strong response' to Western countries after unprecedented sanctions were placed on Russia in the wake of President Vladimir Putin's decision to invade Ukraine.
In a statement issued following the first round of sanctions, which were announced a day before the invasion was launched, Russia's foreign ministry described the proposals as 'blackmail, intimidation and threats'.
In the almost three weeks since, Western countries have continued to target Russia's banks, businesses and oligarchs, with the UK earlier today announcing a further 350 Russians set to see their assets frozen in the country.
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Western sanctions appear set to cripple the Russian economy, with the country likely to default on its foreign debt in the coming weeks, and the Moscow Stock Exchange remaining closed for a third consecutive week in a seemingly-doomed effort to prevent a market crash.
By comparison, the sanctions announced by Russia today are largely performative, with top US officials unlikely to have any financial assets or interests in Russia.
President Biden has not visited Russia since 2011, when as vice president he travelled to Moscow for talks with Putin.
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The two world leaders have only met once face-to-face since Biden was elected president, holding discussions in Geneva, Switzerland last June.
The White House is yet to respond to the announcement of the sanctions.
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Topics: World News, no-article-matching
Hannah Smith