Former President Barack Obama has been banned from entering Russia, Fox News reports.
Russia, in fact, has recently banned 500 Americans from entering its country in response to the recent sanctions imposed by America on Russia.
The sanctions - the latest of their kind - regard Russia's ongoing war with Ukraine.
The Associated Press reports:
The latest sanctions aimed at Russia include tighter restrictions on already-sanctioned people and firms involved in the war effort. More than 125 individuals and organizations across 20 countries have been hit with U.S. sanctions. The financial penalties have been primarily focused on sanctions evaders connected to technology procurement for the Kremlin. The Commerce Department also added 71 firms to its own list.
On Friday, in response to the sanctions, Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs released a list of 500 Americans that it has banned from entering the country.
Obama made the list. Though, he was far from the only American politician to do so.
Fox reports that "the ban includes 45 members of the U.S. House, Sens. J.D. Vance, Katie Britt and Eric Schmitt, and former ambassadors to Russia John Tefft and Jon Huntsman."
The list also includes non-politicians, such as late night television hosts Jimmy Kimmel, Stephen Colbert, and Seth Meyers.
It is not immediately clear how Russia went about selecting individuals to put on the list. The list does not specify what complaint Russia has against each person.
In addition to the list itself, the Russian Foreign Ministry also released a statement on the matter.
The statement begins:
In response to the anti-Russian sanctions regularly introduced by the J. Biden administration, which are called upon, according to Washington, to inflict maximum damage on Russia, personally affecting officials and ordinary citizens of our country, in order of countermeasures, entry into the Russian Federation for 500 Americans is closed.
The list is said to include people " involved in the proliferation of Russophobic installations and fairies," those "supplying weapons to the regime in Kiev," and those in the power and law enforcement structures who are directly involved in the persecution of dissidents in the wake of the so-called 'Capitol assault.'"
Russia's Foreign Ministry goes on to write, "It is time for Washington to learn for a long time that not a single hostile attack against Russia will be left without a tough reaction."
It is unclear whether banning the 500 Americans from entering Russia is the full extent of this "tough reaction"
