Russia sanctions Joe Biden, Hunter Biden, Hillary Clinton, and others in retaliatory effort

Russia this week imposed retaliatory sanctions on U.S. leaders and other well-know political figures including President  Biden and son Hunter Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Hillary Clinton.

"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," read the statement from the Russian Foreign Ministry.

The sanctions will prevent those individuals from entering Russia and will freeze any assets they have there. 

The ministry added that the sanctions were an "inevitable consequence" of the "extremely Russophobic" stance currently held by the Biden administration, which include sanctions for Russia invading Ukraine. 

"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," the statement also reads.

Russia has indicated that an expanded list of sanctioned individuals will follow and include more "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."

White House press secretary Jen Psaki addressed the sanctions Tuesday, telling reporters, "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."

Clinton, who has not held an official role in government for close to a decade, wrote on Twitter following the news, "I want to thank the Russian Academy for this Lifetime Achievement Award."