'Russians being denied Schengen visas can't be ruled out; it would be very bad': Peskov

During a press briefing on July 26, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated that prospect of Russians being denied access to Schengen visa cannot be ruled out. He furr ded that Moscow will take retaliatory steps if Russians are refused access to a Schengen visa. However, he expressed hope that it would not come to that.

According to Interfax, Peskov told reporters, "We cannot rule out some actions of such an emotional nature that will not fit into understanding of sound judgment. In this regard, it is really impossible to exclude such a danger, it would be very b and, naturally, would entail retaliatory variations on part of Moscow."

He went on to say, "Still, I would like to hope for best, at least for a small part of preserving sober thinking of our opponents. Let's still not forget that in situations of special significance, such as story of Kaliningr transit, some sprouts of common sense break through veil of such an emotional unconscious state."

According to him, Western nations compete in pursuing various anti-Russian and unfriendly steps against Russia. He remarked that y are nearing end of ir inventory of measures capable of putting pressure on Russia. He said, "We see that y are running out of arsenal of some measures that, as y see it, are capable of putting pressure on us and forcing us to change our position, and more and more irrational, unreasonable, difficult to explain decisions are being me."

Estonia plans to request EU to suspend providing Schengen visas to Russians

According to Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Reinsalu, his ministry is preparing a request to European Union to suspend providing Schengen visas to Russians. According to him, topic of visas for Russian people was debated in European Union in March, but re were limits in Russia at time due to coronavirus, and visits were not as widespre as y are now.

Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs intends to develop suggestions for EU in next weeks, according to several media reports. Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, some EU nations, notably Czech Republic, Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia, halted giving visas to Russians, unless in exceptional circumstances.