Canada announces entry ban on Vladimir Putin, his accomplices in solidarity with Ukraine

As the all-out Russian war entered day 84, Ottawa on Tuesday announced a ban on Kremlin head Vladimir Putin and 1,000 members of his government to prevent them from entering Canada. In a move to ratchet up the sanctions, Canadian PM Justin Trudeau's administration introduced legislation in a Senate to ban the "key supporters of Putin's regime" and "those responsible for this unprovoked aggression." Addressing the reporters on Tuesday, Canadian Minister of Public Safety, Marco Mendocino, said:

"In the face of the Putin regime's brutal attack, Canada stands with Ukraine and will hold Russia accountable for its crimes. That is why we just announced that we are banning roughly 1,000 Russians- including Putin and his accomplices from entering Canada," Kyiv Independent reported.

The sanctioned individuals include Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Belarus leader Alexander Lukashenko. The measures will apply to the said individuals as well as their family members.

Canada imposes retaliatory ban on Russia

The move comes weeks after Moscow banned dozens of Canadian government, political, military officials, and journalists. Some of the Canadian officials are suspended from entering Russia for a lifetime as Kremlin said they were "formulating" Russophobic policies, Tass News agency reported.

"Russia always stool against sanctions in bilateral relations. Introduce them only as a reciprocatory measure when such restrictions are introduced against us," said Vladimir Prokuryakov, deputy chief of the Russian embassy in Ottawa.

Prokuryakov slammed the ongoing sanctions by Western nations against Russia saying that "it is a vicious quid pro quo cycle." He added, "it is very unfortunate that we are now in this reality."

Canada to offer technical advice to Ukraine on NATO membership

Canadian foreign minister Melanie Joly on May 16 said that Ottawa will continue to provide technical assistance to Ukraine in establishing a strong military mechanism. "As far as Ukraine is concerned, Canada has always been a supporter of NATO's open-door policy. We are currently widely involved in supporting Ukraine in these negotiations in order to establish strong security mechanisms. At this point, we will continue to offer strategic technical advice to Ukrainian negotiators," the Ukrinform News agency quoted the minister as saying before the EU Council meeting. The meeting was also attended by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.

(Image: AP)