JOE BIDEN’S WIFE and daughter have been banned from Russia, along with 23 other Americans, the Russian foreign ministry said today.

“As a reaction to the constantly expanding US sanctions against Russian political and public figures, 25 American citizens are added to a ‘stop list,’” the ministry said in a note accompanying the list.

The list featured several US senators, including Susan Collins of Maine, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Charles Grassley of Iowa, Kirsten Gillibrand of New York.

It also included several university professors and researchers and former US government officials.

Meanwhile, G7 leaders agreed that money collected from higher trade tariffs imposed on Russian exports should be funnelled as aid to Ukraine, the White House said.

Biden and other G7 leaders “will seek authority to use revenues collected by any new tariffs on Russian goods to help Ukraine and to ensure that Russia pays for the cost of its war,” a senior US official said.

John Kirby, National Security Council spokesman at the White House, said the G7 would be seeking to increase the costs and consequences of the war on Putin and the Russian economy.

At the same time, they will aim to minimise “as much as possible the effect of these rising oil prices and the way (Putin) has weaponised energy”.

The impact on the economy formed the focus of the G7′s opening session, with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz citing “sinking growth rates, rising inflation, raw material shortages and supply chain disruptions” as threats to a post-pandemic recovery.

– © AFP 2022