Russia pans Ukraine's Zelenskyy over 'irrational' demand to ban Russian travellers

Russian President Vladimir Putin's Press secretary Dmitry Peskov has dismissed Zelenskyy remarks demanding a ban on the entry of Russian travellers and said that any attempts to isolate Russia or Russian nationals have "no prospects." Peskov's statement comes after Zelenskyy called on Western nations to ban Russian nationals from entering their country. Criticizing Zelenskyy statement on banning entry of Russian nationals, Kremlin spokesman Peskov stressed that "irrationality in thinking in this case goes off the scale" and added that it can be considered "extremely negatively," RIA Novosti reported.

Dmitry Peskov said that such statements have been made by countries that have been recognised as 'unfriendly' by Russia. He hoped that common sense will prevail and those who make statements like these will come to their senses. Meanwhile, Russia's Deputy Chairman of the Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev said that Zelenskyy wants to hold all the Russians responsible. Taking to his official Twitter handle, Medvedev noted that Adolf Hitler had last tried to use these ideas for the whole of the population. Dmitry Medvedev tweeted, "The chief clown of Ukraine suggested “holding the whole population of Russia responsible”. It was Adolf Hitler who last tried to apply such ideas to a people as a whole. Any questions remaining about the Ukrainian regime’s nature?" Medvedev's statement comes after Zelenskyy called on the West to deny entry to Russians. 

Zelenskyy calls on West to ban entry of Russians 

Amid the ongoing war between Moscow and Kyiv, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged all Western nations to ban entry for all Russians and also introduce a full embargo on Russian energy carriers. In an interview with The Washington Post, Zelenskyy stressed that “the most important sanctions are to close the borders because the Russians are taking away someone else's land”. Ukraine’s President also proposed that Russians should “live in isolation until they change their philosophy”. He termed the sanctions imposed against Russia "weak" in comparison to banning the entry of Russian nationals for one year and a full embargo on buying Russian energy. 

'Stop issuing tourist visas to Russians': Estonia PM

Echoing similar remarks as Zelenskyy, Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin stated that she believes that issuing tourist visas to Russians should be restricted and called for a European Union ban, as per The Washington Post report.

Meanwhile, Estonia's Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said that they should stop issuing tourist visas to Russians. Taking to her official Twitter handle, Kallas said, "Stop issuing tourist visas to Russians. Visiting #Europe is a privilege, not a human right. Air travel from RU is shut down. It means while Schengen countries issue visas, neighbours to Russia carry the burden (FI, EE, LV – sole access points). Time to end tourism from Russia now." Earlier in July, Estonia announced that it would no longer issue a visa to Russian nationals. 

(Image: AP)