Speaking to a Russian opposition television channel Dozhd on Saturday, John Kirby, US National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications, said that he didn’t see a need to turn visa sanctions against the Russian regime into a war with the entire Russian people.

He said restrictions should apply to individual Russians, with the United States considering it a tool to help prosecute supporters of Putin’s regime.

Earlier, Ukrainian authorities called for the complete visa ban by the European Union on all Russians.

While a complete ban was not implemented due to the resistance of some EU member states, a compromise was agreed that ended the simplified procedures for issuing visas to Russian citizens.

Josep Borrell, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, confirmed on Aug. 31 that EU foreign ministers had reached an agreement to completely stop the simplified visa issuance system for Russians.

The issue has risked splitting the EU, with the countries of the bloc bordering Russia in favor of banning all visits by Russian tourists, while countries further to the west oppose the idea.

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