Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov has banned US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo from entering the region. He said this at a meeting in Grozny.
The US State Department on Monday announced the inclusion of Kadyrov in the "black list" of persons involved, according to the Department, in human rights violations. The wife and daughters of the head of Chechnya were also sanctioned.
"I invited Mr. Pompeo to visit, but now I say in front of everyone that I do not have the right to do so. <...> That's it, I cancel the invitation and announce that he is included in all the sanctions that we have in the Republic, up to the blocking of all his accounts. They did the same thing against me," Kadyrov said.
The head of Chechnya expressed outrage at US sanctions against members of his family. "If I committed a crime, what does it have to do with my children? Where is it written that married daughters are responsible for their father's sins? What does this have to do with my wife, who doesn't get involved in politics or anything? This is ridiculous. They just started their election work, " he said.
Zakharova commented on the State Department's accusations against Kadyrov
The US state Department's accusations against the Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov of involvement in human rights violations are far-fetched, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said.
"The topic of accusing Russia of all imaginable and unthinkable sins, its leadership, politicians, representatives of the executive and legislative authorities, a number of US representatives constantly keep afloat. This is another example of such a public action. Despite the fact that part of the American political elite has not abandoned its Russophobic course, in this case, I would like to ask, in my opinion, quite a natural question: what do Ramzan Kadyrov's closest relatives have to do with the alleged violations? I'm not even going to comment on these far-fetched accusations, but what does this have to do with relatives? Moreover, the evidence and the charges traditionally do not exist", - said Zakharov on the briefing.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Elena Afonina / TASS
Based on materials from RIA Novosti, TASS