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Russia threatens tit-for-tat ban for Ukraine justice official

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Russia's Foreign Ministry hinted on Thursday that a Ukrainian first deputy justice minister may be banned from entering Russia following a decision by Kiev to bar Moscow's mayor from traveling to Ukraine.
MOSCOW, May 22 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's Foreign Ministry hinted on Thursday that a Ukrainian first deputy justice minister may be banned from entering Russia following a decision by Kiev to bar Moscow's mayor from traveling to Ukraine.

Earlier Ukrainian media reported that Yevhen Korneichuk had publicly suggested banning Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin from entering Ukraine.

"Considering what Yevhen Korneichuk publicly said we assume he has no plans to visit Russia [anymore]," the ministry's official spokesman Andrei Nesterenko said.

Earlier in the day the Russian Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying that in response to Ukraine's decision to prohibit Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov from entering Ukraine, Russia announced a number of Ukrainian politicians would not be allowed entry into Russia.

Ukraine's state security services barred Moscow Mayor Luzhkov on May 12 from entering the former Soviet republic over his 'provocative' comments regarding the ownership of the Black Sea city of Sevastopol. Moscow's mayor made strong calls for the disputed ownership of a Russian naval base in Sevastopol to be handed back to Russia.

"In connection with the decision by Ukrainian authorities to ban Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov from entering the territory of Ukraine... Russia has been forced to make a decision on appropriate measures with regard to Ukrainian politicians, who cause harm to the Russian Federation either by their acts or statements," the ministry said.

However, the ministry did not include a list of politicians' names in the statement.

The head of the State Duma committee on CIS affairs, Alexei Ostrovsky, said in April that Russia could reclaim the Crimea if Ukraine was admitted to NATO. Media reported that President Vladimir Putin issued a similar threat during a closed-door speech to NATO leaders at the Bucharest Summit earlier in April.

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