In a statement on Thursday, Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said she did not support the decision, arguing that Russians seeking to leave the country faced increased danger.
“Obviously what we’re doing is working, but we need to do more,” Joly told reporters in a Thursday phone call from New York. Radio Canada, Friday (23/9). He referred to the onslaught of success of Western countries in helping Ukraine.
He argued that Putin’s regime was increasingly desperate and that would pose a risk to his dissidents. Thus, according to him, there is no need to limit visas for those who are going to leave Russia.
Joly rejected Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s demands for Western countries to stop issuing visas to Russia.
“There were Russian soldiers who were basically ready to defy the authorities, and who left their ranks, and they fled the battlefield in Ukraine,” Joly said.
“There are a lot of Russians who want to leave Russia,” Joly added, saying the visa ban was unfair to people who disagreed with Moscow.
The Russian Embassy has condemned the visa restrictions imposed by several Western countries. In this case, the Embassy agrees with Canada, but in the rights of citizens who wish to travel.
“Here we can agree with Minister Joly that the visa ban is a policy of collective punishment,” said Artem Kalabukhov, political counselor at the Russian Embassy in Ottawa.
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