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Twice failed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has responded to reports that she was sanctioned by Russia.
Financial Times’ Moscow Bureau Chief Max Seddon tweeted a list of the American officials who were sanctioned, which also includes President Joe Biden and many other prominent U.S. officials.
“Russia has sanctioned Joe Biden and a range of other top US officials. The main impact of this is they can now make corny jokes on cable news about how they won’t be able to access their Russian bank accounts or go on vacation in Siberia, I guess,” he wrote.
Russia has sanctioned Joe Biden and a range of other top US officials.
The main impact of this is they can now make corny jokes on cable news about how they won't be able to access their Russian bank accounts or go on vacation in Siberia, I guess pic.twitter.com/ZQWA0Mhg4R
— max seddon (@maxseddon) March 15, 2022
Clinton responded to Seddon on Twitter, saying, “I want to thank the Russian Academy for this Lifetime Achievement Award.”
I want to thank the Russian Academy for this Lifetime Achievement Award. https://t.co/4og9S3OCEp
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) March 15, 2022
The full list of sanctioned American officials includes:
- President Joseph Robinette Biden
- Secretary of State Antony John Blinken
- Defense Secretary Lloyd James Austin III
- Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Mark Alexander Milley
- National Security Adviser Jacob Jeremiah Sullivan
- Central Intelligence Agency Director William Joseph Burns
- White House Press Secretary Jennifer Rene Psaki
- International Economics Adviser Daleep Singh
- International Development Administrator Samantha Jane Power
- Robert Hunter Biden
- Former Secretary of State Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton
- Deputy Treasury Secretary Adewale “Wally” Adeyemo
- United States Export-Import Bank Chair Reta Jo Lewis
“The Russian government suggested more sanctions were to follow, with the black list expected to expand to include top US officials, military officials, lawmakers, businessmen, experts and media people who are Russophobic or contribute to inciting hatred towards Russia and the introduction of restrictive measures,” CNN reported.
“The foreign ministry also relayed in its statement that the Russian government does not refuse to maintain official relations if they meet our national interests, and, if necessary, we will solve problems arising from the status of persons who appear on the ‘black list’ in order to organize high-level contacts,” the report added.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki suggested the restrictions will not have much of an impact on their intended targets, telling reporters during Tuesday’s press briefing, “It won’t surprise any of you that none of us are planning tourist trips to Russia, none of us have bank accounts that we won’t be able to access, so we will forge ahead.”
When Psaki was asked whether the new sanctions signal an escalation by Russia, Psaki said the US is “confident” US officials “will have the ability” to have continued direct and indirect conversations with Russia.
Former President Donald Trump responded after the Kremlin sanctioned both the president, other US officials, and “individuals associated with them.”
“In response to a series of unprecedented sanctions prohibiting, among other things, entry into the United States for top officials of the Russian Federation, from March 15 of this year, the Russian ‘stop list’ includes on the basis of reciprocity President J. Biden, Secretary of State A. Blinken, Secretary of Defense L. Austin and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff M. Milley, as well as a number of department heads and prominent US figures,” it said.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said that it was “an inevitable consequence of the extremely Russophobic course taken by the current US Administration, which, in a desperate attempt to maintain American hegemony, has relied, discarding all decency, on the frontal constricting of Russia.”
“At the same time, we do not refuse to maintain official relations if they meet our national interests, and, if necessary, we will solve problems arising from the status of persons who appear on the ‘black list’ in order to organize high-level contacts,” it said.
