France has granted Russian Agriculture Minister Aleksandr Tkachev an entry visa, even though he is on a European Union blacklist, the Russian Agriculture Ministry said on May 23. It was not immediately clear why France made an exception from EU sanctions enacted after Moscow annexed Crimea in 2014.
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: France gives entry visa to Russian minister blacklisted by EU
Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) speaks with Alexander Tkachev (L), when he was a Krasnodar region Governor, during a visit to the mountain resort in Krasnaya Polyana outside the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi on January 3, 2013.
