Russia bars entry for 56 Canadians in response to Ottawa's sanctions against Russian citizens - Russian Foreign Ministry

MOSCOW. March 22 (Interfax) - Russia has barred 56 Canadian citizens in response to Ottawa's sanctions on Russian citizens.

"In response to the sanctions continually imposed by the liberal government of Justin Trudeau against representatives from Russia's leadership, business community, scientific circles and civil society, and anyone unpleasant to official Ottawa which looks after the pro-Nazi regime in Kiev, 56 citizens of Canada have been banned from entering the Russian Federation on a permanent basis," the Russian Foreign Ministry's website said on Friday.

The Russian countermeasures are "selective in nature, unlike the mass 'listing' being practiced by official Ottawa which cut almost all our bilateral ties on its own initiative, and clearly separate the people of Canada from its rulers and those who service the confrontational course they pursue," the ministry said.

Russia has previously banned Canadian statesmen from entering the country as a countermeasure in response to the Canadian government's actions. In all, there are now 1,593 Canadians on the Russian stoplist.