Ukraine’s initiative on restricting Russian citizens’ opportunities to visit Europe is gaining momentum in the EU.

"Latvia has already stopped issuing visas [to Russians]. Finland and Estonia have expressed their support for this initiative. The topic will shortly be discussed at EU level," Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba stated this in an online briefing.

He said Ukraine does not accept the argument that this measure would supposedly make it difficult for Russians who do not support Putin’s regime to travel.

"For those who are being persecuted, there will always be an opportunity to seek political refuge. But Russian tourists wearing T-shirts with things like ‘USSR’ and ‘Z’ on them should not be hanging around on foreign beaches and visiting sights, shops and restaurants while their country is waging a bloody and invasive war in Europe," Kuleba said.

In one week’s time, Estonia will no longer allow Russians who hold Schengen visas previously issued by Estonia to enter the country. There will only be a few exceptions.

On Wednesday Jan Lipavský, the Foreign Minister of the Czech Republic, which currently holds the presidency of the European Council, supported a blanket ban on issuing Schengen visas to Russian citizens. The initiative had been suggested earlier by some EU member states.

Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin also backs restrictions on the issuance of tourist visas to Russians on a pan-European level.

The European Commission has said that it is prepared to impose further sanctions on Russia, but this is within the competence of EU member states.