MOSCOW: Russia said on Monday it was preparing to restrict entry into Russia for nationals of “unfriendly” countries, which include Britain, all EU states and the United States.

“A draft presidential decree is being developed on retaliatory visa measures in response to the ‘unfriendly’ actions of a number of foreign states,” Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in televised remarks.

“This act will introduce a number of restrictions on entry into Russia,” he added without elaborating.

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After the West piled unprecedented sanctions on Moscow following Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to send troops to pro-Western Ukraine, Russia expanded the list of what it calls “unfriendly” countries.

They now include the United States, Australia, Canada, Britain, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, all EU member states and several others.

Russian carriers have been banned from the airspace of the European Union, the United Kingdom and the United States and travel to and from Russia is now limited.