The Kremlin has rejected Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s call for a ban on Russians traveling to the West, calling the proposal “irrational.”
Russian officials have criticized Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s plan to forbid any Russians from traveling to the West, claiming that such a move would be both impractical and unproductive.
Ukrainian President urged Western Countries to close borders to Russian citizens:
In an interview with the Washington Post that was published on Monday, Zelensky urged Western nations to close their borders to all Russian citizens — regardless of how they felt about their country’s invasion of Ukraine — in advance of expected referendums that could result in the annexation of Ukrainian territory by Russia.
Zelensky’s plan was scorned by anti-war Russians who feared it may backfire and strengthen Putin’s base of support. According to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, “Any attempts to isolate Russians or Russia is a process that has no prospects.”
Read More: https://www.themoscowtimes.com/tag/ukraine-war
Iron-Curtain:
Tuesday, Medvedev tweeted in English, “The top clown of Ukraine suggested ‘holding the whole people of Russia responsible.” “The last person to attempt to apply such concepts to an entire people was Adolf Hitler. Are there any lingering concerns about the nature of the Ukrainian regime? said, Medvedev.
Additional sanctions against Russia have been warned by the U.S. government in the event that the upcoming referendums in the Ukrainian areas of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia—which it has dubbed “fake votes”—take place. European leaders who share land borders with Russia have recently stepped up their own calls for the EU to stop providing visas to Russians.
The Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine, according to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, has caused a new “Iron Curtain” to form between Moscow and the West. At a news conference in Minsk, the capital of Belarus, Lavrov said, “As far as an Iron Curtain is concerned… basically it is already dropping.” He declared,
“The procedure has already started. Additionally, Lavrov asserted that there was no longer any contact between Russia and the European Union. The foreign minister claimed that “[the European Union] has shattered the relationship that had been created over decades between us and the EU,” adding that Moscow was still ready to talk.
France Reverses Russia ban After Chateau Turns Away visitors:
France said Tuesday that a ban on Russian nationals entering military installations had been applied too rigidly when two Russian visitors were turned away at the Chateau de Vincennes, a medieval fortress and tourist attraction on the edge of Paris.
Once the residence of French kings and among Europe’s best-preserved monuments of its kind, the castle is for the most part open to the public, including for tours, concerts, theatre plays, and other events. It also houses part of the French armed forces’ historical archives, to which access is restricted. Technically therefore a military installation is covered by a French ban on Russian nationals entering army territory that was issued after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February.
Read More: https://youthdiplomacyforum.com/2022/08/07/ukrainian-nuclear-site-seriously-damaged/
Russia’s Response:
Before being allowed to enter Russia last month, a business owner from a European Union member state was forced to give border officials at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport the name of every Ukrainian in his cell phone contact list. “He [the border guard] searched my phone and wrote down about eight or nine Ukrainian numbers on a sheet of paper,” he told The Moscow Times.
“They took me to a special room and started asking me if I have any friends in Ukraine, why I’m in Russia, what my job is here if I have Russian relatives,” he said. The Moscow Times spoke with six Westerners who have been interrogated by security officials after flying into Russia since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, adding to growing evidence that foreigners – particularly those from Europe or the U.S. – are being singled out for questioning.
Their accounts come as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has caused relations between Moscow and the West to plummet to near-historic lows. Russian officials have said repeatedly that they believe they are fighting a proxy war against the U.S.-led military alliance NATO.
As reported by the media team of the Youth Diplomacy Forum
