REVEALED: Bizarre Russian list bans NICK CLEGG from entering country
NICK Clegg is one of 89 European politicians and military leaders banned from entering Russia, it has been revealed.
Vladimir Putin doesn't want Nick Clegg coming to Russia
The former Deputy Prime Minister who was toppled as the leader of the Lib Dems last month after a disastrous general election, appears to have come before David Cameron on the list of Russia’s most hated.
Despite having Russian ancestry, Mr Clegg joins outspoken critics of Russia as well as security officials who were named in a list by the Russian foreign ministry and handed to a European Union delegation in Moscow this week.
The move has increased tensions between Russia and European states trying to stop the conflict in Ukraine.
More than 6,200 people have been killed in the ongoing fighting between Ukrainian government forces and Russian separatists.
Vladimir Putin wants to ban those who criticise Russia
At a time in which we are trying to defuse a persistent and dangerous conflict, this does not contribute towards that
Russia denies arming the extremists and sending its own troops.
Since the fighting began in March last year, when Russia claimed Crimea, the EU has imposed economic sanctions, visa bans and asset freezes on powerful Russian and Ukranian citizens and groups.
A spokesperson for EU foreign affairs said Russia has already denied entry to a number of EU politicians as they were included on a "confidential 'stop list”.
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said the list would hamper peace efforts.
Pro-Russian rebels fire a salute to commander Aleksey Mozgovoi who was killed last week
He said: "At a time in which we are trying to defuse a persistent and dangerous conflict, this does not contribute towards that.”
Nick Clegg, whose father is half Russian, is joined by former British defence minister Malcolm Rifkind and former Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt.
The EU council’s secretary general Uwe Corsepius who will soon become German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s foreign affairs advisor, is also on the list as well as Swedish tax authority boss Eva Lidstrom Adler.
Last Monday Russia refused to allow conservative German politician Karl-Georg Wellmann into the country, fuelling protest among the German government.
He had called Russia a "warmonger" earlier this year.
But leaders said the list would not stand up in international law.