“We once again call on the British leadership to abandon an unfounded confrontational policy with regard to our country…reports Asian Lite News.
The Russian government announced that it has barred a “proportionate” number of British citizens from entering the country in retaliation for sanctions imposed by the UK against Russians for alleged human rights violations and corruption.
The sanctioned are closely involved in anti-Russian activities, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Monday, without disclosing their names and how many people are exactly targeted.
Moscow sees London’s “groundless attacks” as an attempt to interfere in the internal affairs of another state and put pressure on the Russian judicial system, Xinhua news agency quoted the Ministry as saying.
“We once again call on the British leadership to abandon an unfounded confrontational policy with regard to our country. Any unfriendly steps will meet an adequate proportionate response,” it added.
In December 2020, the UK imposed travel bans and asset freezes against three Russians and the Terek Special Rapid Response Unit “responsible for torture and other human rights violations against LGBT people in Chechnya”.
In April 2021, under the Global Anti-Corruption Sanctions Regulations 2021, the UK announced travel bans and asset freezes against 14 Russians, who were accused of participating in the “theft of $230 million of Russian state assets via a highly complex tax fraud”.
Russia has denied these charges.
Two days ago, the UK had imposed a package of trade, financial and aviation sanctions on Belarus, in response to the “continued undermining of democracy and human rights violations by the Lukashenko regime.”
The US and Canada had also announced new sanctions against the regime.
“These further sanctions follow designations that the UK imposed on 21 Jun 2021 in coordination with the US, Canada and EU, against 7 individuals and 1 entity from the Belarusian regime in response to the detention of journalist Roman Protasevich and Sofia Sapega following the unlawful diversion of Ryanair flight FR4978 in May 2021. The UK continues to call for the immediate release of Mr Protasevich, Ms Sapega and other political prisoners held in Belarus,” the Foreign Office said in a statement.
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said: “The Lukashenko regime continues to crush democracy and violate human rights in Belarus. These sanctions demonstrate that the UK will not accept Lukashenko’s actions since the fraudulent election. The products of Lukashenko’s state-owned industries will not be sold in the UK, and our aerospace companies will not touch his fleet of luxury aircraft.”
ALSO READ-Envoy to return to Moscow this week