Canada issues ban on entry for Putin, some 1,000 Russian nationals

TORONTO, May 18 (Bernama) -- Canada has announced a ban on entry for Russian President Vladimir Putin and some 1,000 Russian nationals over the conflict in Ukraine, Minister of Public Safety Marco Mendicino said.

“In the face of the Putin regime's brutal attack, Canada stands with Ukraine and we will hold Russia accountable for its crimes,” Mendicino said on Tuesday, reported Sputnik.

“That's why we just announced that we’re banning roughly 1,000 Russians - including Putin and his accomplices - from entering Canada.”

Earlier in the day, Senator Marc Gold introduced a bill in the Senate that amends the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act to “reorganise existing inadmissibility provisions relating to sanctions to establish a distinct ground of inadmissibility based on sanctions” as well as "expand the scope of inadmissibility based on sanctions to include not only sanctions imposed on a country but also those imposed on an entity or a person.

In addition, the bill seeks to "expand the scope of inadmissibility based on sanctions to include all orders and regulations made under section 4 of the Special Economic Measures Act”.

On February 24, Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine in response to requests by the Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics to protect them from intensifying attacks by Ukrainian troops. 

In response, Canada, the United States and their allies have imposed comprehensive sanctions against Russia.

-- BERNAMA