Russia blocks entry to US Senator for involvement in US sanctions policy

The Russian Embassy in Washington DC, USA, announced last week that it has refused to issue a visa to US Senator Jeanne Shaheen due to her being present on a Russian blacklist “created in response to US sanctions against [Russia]”. Senator Shaheen was an original co-sponsor of the Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act of 2012, which later became part of the final US Magnitsky Act (which imposes travel restrictions and asset freezes on Russian individuals responsible for human rights violations).

Among other things, the Russian Embassy announcement urges the US to “renounce sanctions as a detrimental method of conducting foreign policy”.