Russia's foreign ministry started to impose entry restrictions on Ukrainian politicians on Thursday in retaliation for Kiev's ban on Moscow's mayor, Reuters reported. The ministry immediately banned Ukraine's first deputy justice minister. "Regarding Ukraine's decision to ban Moscow's Mayor Yuri Luzhkov from entering Ukraine, Russia's Foreign Ministry reports that the Russian side has been forced to take adequate measures against those Ukrainian politicians who damage the Russian Federation by action or word," the ministry's statement said. Earlier this month, Ukraine banned Luzhkov from the country after he called for Russia to take ownership of the Black Sea naval port of Sevastopol, which belongs to Ukraine. Russian foreign ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko said Evhen Kornichuk, deputy justice minister of Ukraine, had made an insulting statement about Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. "Given what he said in public we suppose that Evhen Kornichuk has no plans to travel to Russia," Nesterenko told Interfax news agency.
