MOSCOW. May 19 (Interfax) - Russia has barred entry for 500 Americans in response to sanctions regularly imposed by the United States administration, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Friday.
"Among them are not only significant figures such as former U.S. President Barack Obama, but also current chief executives of varying levels and ex-officials like White House curator for countering 'Russian disinformation' Nina Jankowicz, senators and Congressmen elected for the first time in November 2022 elections, experts and employees from the think tanks involved in spreading Russophobic sentiment and falsehoods, and heads of the defense companies which supply weapons to the Kiev regime. Also included in the 500-list enclosed herewith are those in power and law enforcement entities, who are directly involved in persecuting the dissenters on the trail of the so-called storming of Capitol," the statement said.
The U.S. Embassy's request to visit Evan Gershkovich, a reporter arrested for espionage, was again turned down by way of a reaction to the U.S. refusing visas for Russian journalists from Sergei Lavrov's press pool, making it impossible for them to fly to New York to accompany the Russian foreign minister on a visit in the framework of Russia's presidency of the UN Security Council, the ministry said.