Sean Penn and Ben Stiller today were among 25 “high-ranking officials, representatives of the business and expert communities, as well as cultural figures” banned from Russia today by that country’s foreign ministry.
Aside from Sean Penn and Ben Stiller others on the list are Senators Rick Scott, Mark Kelley, Pat Toomey, Kevin Kramer and Krysten Sinema as well as numerous U.S. trade officials, including U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said that the list is based on the “principle of reciprocity.”
“The hostile actions of the American authorities, which continue to follow a Russophobic course, destroying bilateral ties and escalating confrontation between Russia and the United States, will continue to be resolutely rebuffed.”
Of course it’s Russia’s invasion of Ukraine that has, more than anything else, destroyed bilateral ties and escalated confrontation between Russia and the United States.
Penn travelled to Ukraine earlier this year, meeting with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky and filming a documentary about the conflict with Russia for Vice.
During his time in Ukraine, Penn issued the following statement:
Already a brutal mistake of lives taken and hearts broken, and if he doesn’t relent, I believe Mr. Putin will have made a most horrible mistake for all of humankind.
President Zelensky and the Ukrainian people have risen as historic symbols of courage and principle. Ukraine is the tip of the spear for the democratic embrace of dreams. If we allow it to fight alone, our soul as America is lost.
Stiller visited Ukrainian refugees in Poland in June before travelling to Kyiv and, as part of his work representing the UN Refugee Agency, got to spend time with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on World Refugee Day.
“I was really taken by the resilience of the people of Ukraine, and of the President,” he said later. “His incredible sense of how he has risen to the moment and offered his people leadership and true resolve to get through this awful situation.”