Moscow, March 15 : In response to US’ sanction on Russia, Moscow has barred US President Joe Biden, his son and Secretary of State Antony Blinken from entering Moscow. According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, “In response to a series of unprecedented sanctions prohibiting, among other things, entry into the ted States for top officials of the Russian Federation, from March 15 of this year, the Russian ‘stop list’ includes on the basis of reciprocity President J. Biden, Secretary of State A. Blinken, Secretary of Defense L. Austin and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff M. Milley, as well as a number of department heads and prominent US figures.” It further stated that the retaliation was “an inevitable consequence of the extremely Russophobic course taken by the current US Administration, which, in a desperate attempt to maintain American hegemony, has relied, discarding all decency, on the frontal constricting of Russia.” “At the same time, we do not refuse to maintain official relations 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 pointed out that more sanctions will follow to expand the list by including “top US officials, military officials, lawmakers, businessmen, experts, and media people who are Russophobic or contribute to inciting hatred towards Russia and the introduction of restrictive measures,” CNN reported. Russian government and its banking and other institutions will collectively carry out these sanctions, it added. Earlier, the US had targeted 11 Russian military leaders with sanctions in addition to the new sanctions from the Treasury Department. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, “The Russian government has intensified a crackdown against its own citizens’ freedom of expression, including for members of the press, as well as freedom of association and peaceful assembly. Today in Russia, those who provide factual reporting on the invasion or criticize Putin face criminal charges.” This came following National Guard of Russia launching crackdown “on Russian citizens who have taken to the streets to protest their government’s brutal campaign in Ukraine”. RNJ