Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urges Western countries to impose a blanket travel ban on Russians as Moscow says the comments are “off the charts”.
Russia has said that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s proposal to ban all Russians from Western countries “went off the charts” and was viewed “extremely negatively” in Moscow.
The Ukrainian leader told The Washington Post newspaper that current Western sanctions against Moscow are too weak, adding that the West should close its borders to Russians.
“The irrationality of the thinking in this case is off the charts,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Tuesday. “Any attempt to isolate Russians or Russia is a hopeless process,” Peskov added.
Zelenskyy told the Post that “the main sanctions are closing the borders – because the Russians are taking someone else’s land.”
His comments stand in stark contrast to the early days of Moscow’s military intervention in Ukraine, when Zelenskyy addressed Russian Kremlin critics in Russian.
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev took to Twitter to call Zelenskky “the greatest Ukrainian clown” – even comparing him to Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler.
“End tourism from Russia”
Russia’s neighbor to the north, Finland, last week released a plan to limit tourist visas for Russians, but also stressed the need for an EU-level decision on the matter.
Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said it was “time to end tourism from Russia”. “Visiting Europe is a privilege, not a human right,” she wrote on Twitter.
Stop issuing tourist visas to Russians. Visit #Europe is a privilege, not a human right. Air traffic from RU will be suspended. That is, while Schengen countries issue visas, Russia’s neighbors bear the burden (FI, EE, LV – sole entry points). It’s time to end tourism from Russia now
— Kaja Kallas (@kajakallas) August 9, 2022
In Paris, Russian nationals can no longer visit the Chateau de Vincennes, a major tourist attraction.
Access for Russians was restricted after President Vladimir Putin sent troops to Ukraine in late February, the French Defense Ministry told AFP.
When asked to comment on proposed and actual restrictions on Russian citizens in Europe, Peskov alluded to events leading up to and during World War II.
“Many of these countries are slipping into oblivion in their unfriendliness,” he said. “And they draw on statements that we heard from several European countries in the center of Europe 80 years ago.”
Moscow’s military intervention in Ukraine has killed thousands, forced millions to flee and worsened food shortages around the world.