Russia sanctions US President Biden, 12 other officials

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA) - Russia on Tuesday imposed personal sanctions on US President Joe Biden, along with the country's diplomatic, military, and intelligence chiefs, for a total of 13 officials.

In a statement, the Foreign Ministry announced the measures, imposed in response to sanctions against several Russian officials.

"This step, taken as a counter-reaction, was an inevitable consequence of the extremely Russophobic course taken by the current US Administration, which, in a desperate attempt to preserve American hegemony, made a bet, discarding all decency, on the frontal containment of Russia," the ministry said.

It said these officials would no longer be allowed entry into Russia among other penalties.

"At the same time, we do not refuse to maintain official ties if they meet our national interests, and if necessary, we will solve problems arising from the status of persons who appear on the 'black list' in order to organize high-level contacts," it said.

The ministry published the following list of affected individuals:

1. Joseph Robinette Biden, US president

2. Anthony John Blinken, US secretary of state

3. Lloyd James Austin III, US secretary of defense

4. Mark Alexander Milley, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff

5. Jacob Jeremiah Sullivan, national security advisor to U.S. president

6. William Joseph Burns, CIA director

7. Jennifer Rene Psaki, White House spokeswoman

8. Daleep Singh, deputy national security advisor to the US president

9. Samantha Jane Power, administrator of the US Agency for International Development (USAID)

10. Robert Hunter Biden, son of the US president

11. Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton, former presidential nominee

12. Adewale Adeyemo, deputy secretary of the US Treasury

13. Reta Jo Lewis, chair of the US Export–Import Bank

The statement also said that the list would be expanded in the near future with more senior US officials, military, lawmakers, businesspeople, experts, and media personalities, "who are Russophobic or who contribute to inciting hatred against Russia and the imposing of restrictive measures on it."

In underlined that the measures were being taken to protect the Russian economy and ensure its sustainable development.