LONDON – Prime Minister Boris Johnson and other senior British politicians have been barred from entering Russia in response to what the Russian government said were “unprecedented hostile actions” by Britain over the war in Ukraine. “This step was taken in response to the unbridled information and political campaign in London aimed at isolating Russia internationally, creating the conditions for restricting our country and strangling the domestic economy,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement. Moscow has imposed similar bans on US, Canadian and EU leaders in recent weeks. The Russian Foreign Ministry said that the British leadership “deliberately aggravated the situation around Ukraine by using the Kiev regime with deadly weapons and coordinating similar efforts on behalf of NATO.” The statement spoke in support of the US Alliance, but said that maintaining some independence was not the answer. In addition to the British leader, other blacklisted Russian officials include Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, Secretary of Defense Ben Wallace and Scottish Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon. Russia has said more names will be added soon. Britain has sent military and financial aid to Ukraine and has imposed sanctions on Russian companies, oligarchs and hundreds of Russian lawmakers. The British Ministry of Defense also publishes daily newsletters on Twitter about its latest intelligence estimates of the war in Ukraine. Last week, Johnson paid a surprise visit to Ukraine, where he toured Kyiv with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and pledged to send more military equipment. Following the visit, Johnson tweeted a photo of himself walking the streets, saying “Putin’s barbaric act cannot be allowed to succeed.” Relations between Britain and Russia have been frozen 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 barring President Biden and several senior Democratic officials from entering Russia – a move ridiculed by White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki, who was also blacklisted. “None of us are planning tourist trips to Russia and none of us have bank accounts that we will not be able to access, so we will move on,” he said.
