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LONDON – Prime Minister Boris Johnson and other high-ranking British politicians have been banned from entering Russia in response to what the Russian government said was “Britain’s unprecedented hostility” to the war in Ukraine.
“This step was taken in response to London’s unbridled information and political campaign aimed at Russia’s international isolation, creating conditions for limiting our country and stifling the domestic economy,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Saturday.
In recent weeks, Moscow has imposed similar bans on leaders of the United States, Canada and the EU.
Russia’s foreign ministry said the British leadership was “deliberately worsening the situation around Ukraine by pumping deadly weapons into the Kyiv regime and coordinating such efforts on behalf of NATO.”
The statement referred to Britain’s “unprecedented hostility” and highlighted in particular Britain’s sanctions against senior Russian officials.
In addition to the British leader, others on Russia’s blacklist of British officials include Deputy Prime Minister Dominique Raab, Foreign Minister Liz Truss, Defense Minister Ben Wallace and Scottish Prime Minister Nicholas Sturgeon. Russia has said more names will be added soon.
Britain has sent military and financial aid to Ukraine and imposed sanctions on Russian companies, oligarchs and hundreds of Russian lawmakers. The British Ministry of Defense also publishes daily bulletins on its latest intelligence assessments of the war in Ukraine.
Last week, Johnson paid a surprise visit to Ukraine, where he toured Kyiv with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky and promised to send more military equipment. After the visit, Johnson tweeted a photo of his walk in the streets, saying “Putin’s barbaric endeavor cannot be allowed to succeed.”
Relations between Britain and Russia have been in a deep freeze for years, reaching a previous low in 2018 when Britain accused Russian intelligence agents of poisoning a former Russian double agent and his daughter in Salisbury, England.
Johnson last visited Russia in 2017, when he was foreign minister.
Last month, Moscow said it was banning President Biden and several senior Democrats from entering Russia, a move ridiculed by White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki, who was also on the blacklist.
“None of us are planning tourist trips to Russia and none of us have bank accounts that we will not have access to, so we will move on,” she said.
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