Why US President Joe Biden’s wife, daughter are banned from Russia

The Russian foreign ministry on Tuesday said US President Joe Biden’s wife and daughter have been banned from the country, along with 23 other Americans.

In a note accompanying the list, the ministry said, “As a reaction to the constantly expanding US sanctions against Russian political and public figures, 25 American citizens are added to a ‘stop list.'”

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The list featured several US senators, including Susan Collins of Maine, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Charles Grassley of Iowa, Kirsten Gillibrand of New York.

It also included several university professors and researchers and former US government officials.

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Earlier, President Joe Biden made it to Russia’s “blacklist” but former President Donald Trump did not.

In a press release Russia’s foreign affairs ministry had said that nearly 1,000 Americans permanently barred from entering the country, a largely symbolic slap in response to harsh sanctions imposed by Western countries for its brutal invasion of Ukraine in February.

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Since mid-March, Biden had already been banned from visiting Russia, as were Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin and Army Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The updated list also includes Vice President Kamala Harris, as well as Biden’s scandal-plagued son Hunter Biden, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, and Hillary Clinton, the former secretary of state and first lady.