A member of Russia's upper house of parliament is calling for U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and his deputies to be placed on Moscow's sanctions list.
Igor Morozov, a member of the Federation Council's foreign affairs committee, told the state news agency RIA-Novosti August 26 that the move would be in retaliation for the United States' issuing a limited visa to chamber speaker Valentina Matviyenko for a planned visit to New York.
Matviyenko is under U.S. sanctions for her involvement in Russia's annexation of Crimea from Ukraine last year.
Matviyenko had sought to attend events organized by the Inter-Parliamentary Union at the United Nations headquarters next week.
The sanctions do not bar officials from UN events, but the parliamentary group has only observer status there.
After the United States placed what the Russian Foreign Ministry said were "unacceptable" restrictions on Matviyenko's visa barring her from attending the group's events, Russia cancelled plans for a delegation of Russian parliamentarians to attend the events.
Legislator Morozov then moved to retaliate, saying: "A normal and adequate reply will be to expand the sanctions list for the U.S. State Department officials who are linked to making a decision on Matviyenko."
