Moscow has put the United States at the top of Russia's list of unfriendly countries, a Russian television channel reported Tuesday night.

Ukraine, Lithuania, the Czech Republic, Estonia, the UK and Georgia are other countries that are on Russia's list of unfriendly countries.

Meanwhile; "The list has not been finalized yet," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

Canada and Australia are two countries that are likely to be on the list.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova had previously said that countries on the list would be banned from hiring Russian citizens to serve on diplomatic missions.

According to a Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, the list was formed on the basis of a recent decree by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Zakharova stressed that the Russian president's order was retaliatory against the hostile steps of other countries.

Iran PressEurope: Last Friday, Putin signed a decree obliging the Russian government to respond to the hostile actions of some Western countries.

According to the decree, diplomatic missions, consular posts and government offices of other countries that are unfriendly to Russia, Russian citizens and Russian law enforcement agencies are subject to restrictions or even restrictions on the employment of Russian employees. Complete will face obstacles.

However, citizens of these countries will not be restricted from entering Russia and carrying out diplomatic missions.

In addition, the Russian government is obliged to inform them of the number of persons who can serve in the diplomatic missions of these countries on Russian territory, and the contracts that existed before the signing of this decree on foreign missions are void.

Relations between the West and Moscow have been strained since 2014 over issues of expanding NATO military influence, especially near Russia's border with Eastern Europe, the Ukraine crisis, the Baltic Sea, and the situation in Syria.

The United States and the European Union have imposed a series of economic and financial sanctions against Russia since 2014, prompting a backlash from Moscow. 219