First lady Jill Biden speaks at an event celebrating Pride month in the East Room of the White House June 15. Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images
Russia unveiled new sanctions on Tuesday against 25 prominent Americans, including President Biden's daughter, Ashley, and first lady Jill Biden.
Why it matters: Russia framed the move as a retaliation for U.S. sanctions.
The big picture: The 25 individuals named on the sanctions list are "responsible for shaping the Russophobic" policy of the U.S. and have been added to the country's "stop list," banning them from entering Russia, the nation's Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
- Other notable names on the list include Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Ben Sasse (R-Neb.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.).
- The prominent Stanford historian Francis Fukuyama is also included, as are a number of other academics.
What they're saying: "It just goes to show you that the Russian capacity for these kinds of cynical moves is basically bottomless, so it probably shouldn't come as a surprise to any of us that they would do something like this," national security adviser Jake Sullivan said at a press briefing Tuesday.