The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania, Gabrielius Landsbergis, said that Russian tourists may be banned from entering Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Finland, if the European Union does not adopt a pan-European ban.

Russian passportPhoto: Adrien Fillon/NurPhoto/Shutterstock Editorial/Profimedia

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy appealed to the European Union to introduce a travel ban for Russian tourists, claiming that the “most important sanction” is “closing borders because Russians are taking away foreign land,” News.ro reports.

The call of the Ukrainian leader was supported by several EU leaders, in particular the Prime Minister of Finland, Sanna Marin, and his Estonian counterpart, Kaia Kallas.

Russians should not be allowed to enter the EU while their country is “carrying out genocide,” Landsbergis told reporters in Vilnius on Tuesday.

“I spoke with the ministers of all these countries… I don’t see many differences from a political point of view,” he also emphasized.

However, the United States on Monday rejected Ukraine’s request to ban temporary work visas for Russians on the grounds that the Biden administration had already imposed visa restrictions on Kremlin officials. Instead, Washington will focus on identifying those involved in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and bringing them to justice.

“The United States would not want to close the avenues to asylum and safety for Russian dissidents or others who are vulnerable to human rights abuses,” a State Department spokesman said.

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