In a tit-for-tat move after New Zealand introduced sanctions on Russia over Ukraine, the Vladimir Putin government has "blacklisted" all parliamentarians and members of the Kiwi government.
The step, said the Russian Foreign Ministry on Thursday, was taken in response to the "unfriendly actions" of the New Zealand Cabinet of Ministers, which joined the campaign initiated by the US and its satellites to contain Russia and is based on reciprocity.
"Wellington's readiness, forgetting about his own interests and generally accepted decency, to follow a Russophobic course once again testifies to the lack of independence of his foreign policy and servility towards the leaders of the collective West," said the Russian MFA in a statement.
New Zealand has sanctioned top leaders of the Russian Federation and a significant part of the deputies.
"For our part, we emphasize once again that any anti-Russian actions – from inciting a negative attitude towards our country to the imposition of new sanctions and restrictions on bilateral economic relations that harm the interests of the New Zealanders themselves – will be resolutely rebuffed," insisted the Russian ministry.
The Russian "stop list" of New Zealand citizens banned from entering the country also includes Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, Defence Minister and chiefs of its armed forces.
