Russia’s foreign ministry said on Friday it had “significantly expanded” the list of EU officials and politicians banned from entering Russia in response to the bloc’s latest sanctions against Moscow, Reuters reported.

EU member states on Wednesday approved the 13th package of sanctions against Russia since the start of the war in Ukraine, punishing nearly 200 individuals and entities accused of helping Moscow obtain weapons or of involvement in the abduction of Ukrainian children for deportation in the country. Vladimir Putin.

“The European Union continues its futile attempts to put pressure on Russia through unilateral restrictive measures,” Moscow’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Friday.

“In response to these unfriendly actions, the Russian side significantly expanded the list of representatives of European institutions and EU countries, who are prohibited from entering the territory of our state,” he added.

Since Russia has already banned most high-ranking European officials from entering the country, Russian diplomacy has announced that the list has now been expanded to include “representatives of law enforcement agencies and commercial organizations that provide assistance to Ukraine, representatives of institutions involved in the indictment of some Russian officials and those who collected materials to support the idea of ​​confiscating some assets of the Russian state.”

The Russian Foreign Ministry also notes that the list has been expanded to include representatives of the Council of Europe, members of the parliaments of various EU countries, members of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

Russia announces the punishment of officials who “systematically make aggressive statements” against it, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Follow the latest events of the 730th day of the war in Ukraine LIVETEXT on HOTNEWS.RO.