The Russian Foreign Ministry said Monday the refusal by Ukrainian authorities to allow a Russian lawmaker entry into the country at the weekend was "unfriendly," the RIA Novosti news agency reports.
Konstantin Zatulin was denied entry into the country upon arrival at Simferopol Airport Saturday. Ukraine declared him persona non grata last summer over what Kiev said was "anti-Ukrainian statements."
"Such decisions, which have become a tradition, run counter to the interests of Russian-Ukrainian relations," Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko is quoted as saying.