Russia bans billionaire Mark Zuckerberg from entering the country indefinitely: US retaliation

On April 22, Russia issued an indefinite ban on entry to Russia for Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and 28 other famous Americans such as US Vice President Kamala Harris, and 61 Canadians including several other members of the US administration of President Joe Biden, and the government of Canadian President Justin Trudeau, as well as a number of prominent media personalities.

The sanctions were introduced in retaliation for Western sanctions against Russia for its actions in Ukraine. The indefinite entry ban includes top Pentagon officials, US business leaders and journalists, including US Vice President Kamala Harris, LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky and reporters. ABC broadcaster George Stephanopoulos.

Kamala Harris’ husband Douglas Emhoff, Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan and ABC curator George Stephanopolous were also among the Americans sanctioned this time. In addition to Harris and Emhoff, Russia also targeted US officials including Biden’s Chief of Staff Ron Klain, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby, deputy defense secretary Kathleen Hicks and State Department spokesman Ned Price. Even Vladimir Putin also sanctioned US Health Governor Rachel Levine.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said these people will be denied entry to Russia “indefinitely”, according to Insider’s translation taken from the press release of the Russian Foreign Ministry. The ministry said it identified these people because they were responsible for shaping the “Russian agenda” in the US, according to a translation.

However, the sanctions appear to have had no significant effect on CEO Zuckerberg or any of the people on this list other than preventing them from visiting Russia.

Notably, the list doesn’t include the names of top US business leaders like Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal or Google CEO Sundar Pichai, although Google-owned Twitter or YouTube have been tough. confrontation in Russia’s handling of disinformation. Some of the sanctioned reporters on the list commented on their Russia travel ban on social media. As of now, a spokesperson for Meta did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Kevin Rothrock, a Connecticut-based managing editor for the Russian news website Meduza, tweeted shortly after he was shortlisted today: “A funny thing happened to me on my way to work. today”.

“I get a lot of ‘congratulations’ replies to this,” Mark MacKinnon, senior international correspondent for The Globe and Mail, tweeted about the sanctions against him. “But for me, it was a really sad day. I loved my time living in Russia and making friends there (although many of them left Russia after the war broke out). I always try my best. try to report honestly about this country. I guess that’s a problem for me to get this result.”

The Kremlin announced that it hit back at President Joe Biden “repeatedly expanding” the net of sanctions against Russian officials, their families, businessmen and cultural figures, by adding more than two dozen employees. U.S. public item on its own ‘indefinite entry ban list’.

From another angle, it can be seen that Russia shared new sanctions actions shortly after Biden announced the latest round of military aid to Ukraine, an additional $ 800 million including more heavy artillery as well as aerial aircraft. tactical rider “Ghost”.

The latest package brings the total amount of aid to Ukraine to more than $3 billion since the invasion began. Biden also announced that Russian ships would be banned from all US ports. “This is another important step we are taking together with our partners in the European Union, the United Kingdom and Canada to negate the benefits of the international economic system,” he said. They used to like it in the past.”

Meanwhile, Western sanctions have sought to bleed Moscow’s economy and international influence as the invasion continues. They have also targeted members of Putin’s inner circle, family and closely affiliated oligarchs.

Earlier in the week, Canada became the most recent country to sanction Putin’s adult daughters, who are accused of hiding their father’s assets. Most recently, US sanctions targeted a Russian commercial bank and a bitcoin mining company in Russia, in an attempt to thwart Moscow’s ability to evade sanctions with cryptocurrency. .

Earlier, Russia banned US President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton from entering Russia. Even Russia has previously banned Zuckerberg’s Facebook and Instagram platforms, calling them “radical” organizations. The LinkedIn network has been blocked in Russian since 2017.