moscow<u+2014>a former u.s. ambassador to russia, michael mcfaul, said friday he has been banned from traveling to russia. <u+201c>confirmed that i am on the kremlin<u+2019>s sanction lists and cannot travel to russia,<u+201d> mr. mcfaul said in a tweet. mr. mcfaul served as the u.s. envoy to moscow between 2012 and 2014, where he was a democratic adviser on russian policy to hillary clinton when she was secretary of state. in another tweet, mr. mcfaul said his <u+201c>close affiliation with [president barack] obama <u+201d> was behind the travel restriction. russia<u+2019>s ministry of foreign affairs wouldn't immediately comment on the issue. russia warmly welcomed donald trump <u+2019>s win in the presidential election earlier this week, with president vladimir putin saying he hoped relations between the two countries would now be restored . u.s.-russian relations have deteriorated over the crises in ukraine and syria . mr. trump<u+2019>s democratic rival mrs. clinton was widely viewed with mistrust and suspicion by the russian political leadership. after mr. trump<u+2019>s victory wednesday, mr. mcfaul wrote on twitter : <u+201c>putin intervened in our elections and succeeded <u+201d> and added, in the russian language, <u+201c>well done.<u+201d> the tweet was later erased. responding to the tweet, russian foreign ministry spokeswoman maria zakharova said the obama administration has a habit of appointing people who try manage other countries besides their own. <u+201c>and when there is a stalemate they begin to cry that moscow is to blame,<u+201d> ms. zakharova wrote on her public facebook page. mr. mcfaul, who is currently director of the freeman spogli institute for international studies at stanford university, has a decades-old relationship with russia. <u+201c>hope that i am not on the russia travel ban list forever,<u+201d> he wrote on twitter. <u+201c>since 1983, i<u+2019>ve been living in and traveling to that country.<u+201d>
former u.s. ambassador to russia says he<u+2019>s banned from traveling there - wsj
amie ferris-rotman