Russia has imposed personal sanctions on US president Joe Biden and other representatives of the US government, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement, on Tuesday, CNN reported.

The statement read, “In response to a series of unprecedented sanctions prohibiting, among other things, entry into the United States for senior officials of the Russian Federation…From March 15, President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, Secretary of Defense L. Austin and 10 others are included in the Russian ‘stop list’ and are to be sanctioned in retaliation and are barred from entering Russia”. However, the Russian Foreign Ministry has maintained that official relations with Washington will continue and would ensure that high-level contacts with those on the list can take place.

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Since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, several countries have imposed sanctions, chief of which has been the US. Under the Biden administration, the US even banned Russian oil imports. Kremlin went on to acknowledge that these sanctions had hurt the Russian economy. 

The US also went after Russian oligarchs individually, to the extent that a special task force has been set up which will even penalize financial institutions helping these oligarchs.

Americans have largely supported these sanctions, despite the rising gas prices, as a poll shows. However, the poll also shows that the people believe Biden should have been tougher with Russia. Thus far, the US has explicitly refused to allow its troops to be in direct conflict with Russia. Hence, it has denied Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, his much-demanded no-fly zone. Recently, they clamped down on sending MiGs too. 

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However, Russia has now warned the US not to send military aid to Ukraine, noting that such convoys would be legitimate targets of shelling. Biden has not backed down this time, noting that Ukraine will definitely get the aid it needs to fight Russia.