Russia announced, on Friday, the ban on seven British citizens from entering the country in retaliation for similar measures taken by the United Kingdom after the poisoning of the main Russian opponent, Alexei Navalny.

In August, the British Foreign Office sanctioned seven senior officials of Russia’s security services by denying them entry and freezing their assets on its soil for their alleged role in the summer 2020 poisoning of Alexei Navalny.

“In response to London’s unfriendly actions and on the principle of reciprocity, it was decided to impose personal sanctions on a similar number of British representatives closely involved in anti-Russian activities,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Friday. .

“They have been banned from entering the territory of the Russian Federation,” said the ministry, which accused London of being determined to continue its “destructive policy” of bilateral relations.

Relations between Russia and the United Kingdom have witnessed numerous disagreements over the past 15 years, from the polonium-210 poisoning of ex-spy Alexander Litvinenko in the United Kingdom in 2006 to the Skripal affair, as well as several disagreements over diplomatic files in Syria. and Ukraine.

as / mp / mr / grp / me