Russia's Foreign Affairs Ministry takes the ban of the Security Service of Ukraine for Moscow mayor Yuri Luzhkov to enter Ukraine as an unfriendly step.
This follows from a statement made by the Russian Foreign Ministry's department for information and press.
"We take the mentioned decision of the Ukrainian authorities as an unfriendly step, which diverges from mutual efforts on building the atmosphere of credence and understanding in Russian-Ukrainian interrelations," reads the statement.
The Russian Foreign Ministry thinks that Luzhkov is unjustifiably incriminated with some encroachment on the territorial integrity of Ukraine.
"Luzhkov never made unfriendly statements about Ukraine. He in practice actively promoting development of relations between both states," reads the statement.
The Russian Foreign Ministry states that Luzhkov's pronouncement made in Sevastopol in no way is connected with the encroachment on Ukraine's sovereignty.
"Luzhkov just expressed the opinion, which by the way coincides with the viewpoint of most of Russians who painfully took decay of the USSR, which appears to be in no way an encroachment on Ukraine's sovereignty," reads the statement.
Russia is worried with Ukraine's returning to the practice of compiling the lists of personae non grata.
As Ukrainian News earlier reported, the Security Service of Ukraine banned Moscow's Mayor Yuri Luzhkov from entering Ukraine on May 12 because of a statement he made in Sevastopol on May 11 during the commemoration of the 225th anniversary of the Russian Black Sea naval fleet.
The Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs hopes that Russian authorities will esteem Luzhkov's statements.
In July 2007 Ukraine and Russia cleared the lists of personae non grata.
Press conference entitled “Biofuel production in Ukraine: what projects to develop and what to forget about”
