Russia denies entry to Chollet and Miller

2024-03-14 17:30:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Russia has banned the entry of more than 200 American citizens, including the senior political adviser of the US Department of State, Derek Chollet, and the spokesperson of this institution, Matthew Miller. These actions by Moscow are in retaliation for the sanctions imposed by Washington on the Russians for their support for the Russian occupation of Ukraine.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that 227 Americans were banned from entering Russia "because they are involved in the formulation, implementation and justification of the Russophobic course of the current administration of the United States and are directly involved in actions against Russia ".

The list, which already numbers 2,078 people, targets representatives of the American Government, businessmen, journalists and academics.

In addition to Miller, the list also includes former US ambassador to Russia John Sullivan, former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers, deputy trade representative Sarah Bianchi and director of European affairs at the National Security Council, Alexander Vidman. Vidman, who was born in Kiev, had previously testified before the US Congress regarding the abuse of power in the first trial of then-President Donald Trump.

"In addition to declaring undesirable in the Russian Federation a number of American humanitarian organizations, which are used by the American Embassy in Moscow to recruit "agents of influence", the current expansion of the "ban list" aims, among other things, to consolidate the awareness of Washington for the truth and to show that any aggressive effort will not go unpunished," the statement said.

Separately, this ministry also accused Austria "of the next unfriendly step", after Vienna expelled two diplomats from the Russian Embassy in Austria.

A day earlier, Austria ordered two Russian diplomats to leave the country after it said they had acted contrary to their diplomatic status, declaring them "persons not wanted".

Austria did not provide details about the activity of Russian diplomats, while the Russian Foreign Ministry said that this decision was unfounded, warning Vienna of consequences./ REL