You're reading: Russia endorses list of US personae non gratae in response to ‘Magnitsky list’

Russia has endorsed a list of U.S. citizens whose presence on Russian territory is unwelcome in response to the U.S. decision to bar a number of Russian officials from entering its territory, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

The Russian list of U.S. personae non gratae includes high-ranking officials involved in high-profile humanitarian crimes, it said.

"Certainly, we have not left unanswered the political provocation against our country. Based on the reciprocity principle, a list of U.S. citizens whose presence on Russian territory is unwelcome has been endorsed," Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said in a statement posted on the Foreign Ministry website on Saturday.

The list contains "high-ranking Washington officials involved in the earlier mentioned high-profile crimes in the humanitarian area. The names of those who are responsible for unlawful actions against Russian citizens in the U.S. and who sanctioned and personally participated in their abductions and humiliation are also well-known. Definitely, these individuals are also barred from entering Russia," Lukashevich said.

"The matter is not finished: if the U.S. chooses the path of visa confrontation, we will have to enlarge this list," he said.