MOSCOW, March 9 (Xinhua) -- The Russian Foreign Ministry announced on Thursday that 144 citizens of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia have been barred from entering Russia.
The newly blacklisted are ministers, parliament members, public figures and journalists of the three countries, the ministry said in a statement, without disclosing their names.
Russia imposed the travel ban in response to "the active lobbying by the Baltic states of sanctions and other measures against Russia, interference in its internal affairs, and inciting Russophobic sentiments," the statement said. ■
