Russia today sanctioned 398 congressmen of the United States House of Representatives and 87 senators from Canada in response to sanctions imposed by Washington and Ottawa against deputies of the Russian Duma (Lower House) and the Council of Federation (Senate) for the military campaign in Ukraine.

“In the near future, there will be further announcements regarding the expansion of the sanctions list and other retaliatory measures”, both in the case of the United States and Canada, the Russian Foreign Ministry warned. in separate statements.

The action taken by Sergei Lavrov’s portfolio follows the sanctions imposed by the United States on March 24 against 328 Duma deputies, who, given the Russian parliamentarians previously included in the American blacklist, “constitute almost all of the Chamber”, consisting of 450 seats.

Given that Russia previously vetoed the entry of several US lawmakers into the country, such as Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi, according to Moscow, now with the new round of sanctions, “all” members of Congress are now included on the Russian list on the basis of “reciprocity”.

Among other sanctions, the US Treasury Department included the Russian Duma on its list of prohibited entities three weeks ago and froze all assets under US jurisdiction that may be held by 328 members of this Russian lower house.

“The Russian State Duma continues to support (President Vladimir) Putin’s invasion, restricting the free flow of information and undermining the basic rights of Russian citizens,” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said.

The Treasury also recalled that in February the Duma approved a call for Putin to recognize the self-declared pro-Russian republics of Donetsk and Lugansk as independent, “despite the fact that they are part of Ukraine”. .

In the case of Canada, Ottawa sanctioned 160 senators from the Russian Federation Council (Upper House) on the same day as the United States and therefore reacted by banning 87 Canadian congressmen from entering the country.

Russia considers this measure “unfriendly”, contrary to national interests, since Canada “is trying to be at the forefront of the Russophobic course of the current American administration”, said Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Maria Zajárova .

“The continuation of this myopic line, reflecting the failure and dependence of Canadian foreign policy, can only increase the damage to Canada itself and to its relations with Russia, given the inevitable Russian response “, he added.