US lawmakers and administration officials are not too concerned about the ban on entry to Russia

US officials and lawmakers did not seriously accept the entry bans on Russia and other retaliatory measures taken by the Russian leadership shortly after President Barack Obama announced the introduction of tougher sanctions against Russia in connection with the Russian annexation of Crimea. From now on, six legislators and three members of the administration are prohibited from entering the Russian Federation.

Among them - House Speaker Republican John Beyner. On Thursday, 20 March, a Beiner representative said that the speaker was not too upset about what had happened. “The speaker is proud to be included in the list of those who are ready to resist Putin’s aggression,” said a spokesman for John Beyner.

Similar comments were made by the chairman of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, Robert Menendez. “If, standing up for the protection of the Ukrainian people, their freedom, the democracy and sovereignty of the country won with such labor, I have been subjected to sanctions, then so be it,” the senator said.

The Republican Senator John McCain also made the list, stating that he would not stop the struggle for democracy and independence of Ukraine, including the Crimea. McCain recently visited Ukraine as part of a group of senators representing both parties.

There is no State Department employee listed; A spokesman for the US foreign ministry, Jen Psaki, outlined the position of the Obama administration on this issue.

“For now, all that we see is that those who are on this list are proud of it. They are proud of the fact that they defended what they consider to be right, the preservation of the territorial integrity of Ukraine, ”the spokeswoman stressed.

Geoffrey Mankoff, an expert on Russia from the Center for Strategic and International Studies, states that the entry ban imposed by Russia will not cause inconvenience to any of these individuals, which, however, cannot be said of Russians who are subject to the sanctions imposed by the Obama administration.

“Russia is more vulnerable to sanctions imposed by the United States than the United States is due to sanctions imposed by Russia. At the same time, I don’t know how effective the steps taken by the US government will be and how they can influence the behavior of the Russian leadership, ”said the analyst.

According to him, the effectiveness of US sanctions will depend on how strictly they will be applied by the European Union, and whether the financial problems that may arise from the Russian elite will exert any pressure on President Putin.

Michael bowman