The US has rebuffed Ukraine’s demand for a blanket visa ban on Russians, saying Washington wouldn’t wish to shut off pathways to refuge for Russia’s dissidents and others who’re weak to human rights abuses.
The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, had first urged the visa ban in an interview earlier this month with the Washington Publish, saying Russians ought to “stay in their very own world till they alter their philosophy”.
Zelenskiy then issued one other name a number of weeks in the past for European Union states to ban visas for Russian nationals to maintain the bloc from changing into a “grocery store” open to anybody with the means to enter.
However on Monday, a state division spokesperson stated the Biden administration had already imposed visa restrictions for Kremlin officers but it surely made it clear that its focus could be on figuring out these concerned in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and holding them accountable.
“The US wouldn’t wish to shut off pathways to refuge and security for Russia’s dissidents or others who’re weak to human rights abuses,” the spokesperson stated.
“We’ve additionally been clear that you will need to draw a line between the actions of the Russian authorities and its insurance policies in Ukraine, and the folks of Russia,” the spokesperson added.
Some EU leaders such because the Finnish prime minister, Sanna Marin, and her Estonian counterpart, Kaja Kallas, have referred to as for an EU-wide visa ban. The German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, opposed this on Monday, saying Russians ought to be capable of flee their residence nation in the event that they disagree with the regime.
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