Joe Biden among 963 Americans receiving 'lifetime bans' from Russia

Joe Biden among 963 Americans receiving 'lifetime bans' from Russia

Russia on Saturday released list of 963 Americans it said were banned from entering the country, a punctuation of previously announced moves against president Joe Biden and other senior US officials, Qazet.az reports.

The country said it would continue to retaliate against what it called hostile US actions, Reuters reported.

The lifetime bans imposed on the Americans, including secretary of state Antony Blinken, US senate majority leader Chuck Schumer, defence secretary Lloyd Austin and CIA head William Burns, are largely symbolic.

They came on the same day Biden signed a support package providing nearly $40bn in aid for Ukraine.

But the latest action by Russia forms part of a downward spiral in the country’s relations with the west since its invasion of Ukraine, which prompted Washington and allies to impose drastic sanctions on Moscow and step up arms supplies to Ukraine’s military