The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced Thursday that it would expand its list of blocked individuals from entering the country to include European Union leadership and European Parliament deputies, according to The Times of Israel.

The new restrictions are in response to reports the European Union is preparing further sanctions to impose on Russia, Reuters reported a day prior.

"The restrictions apply to the top leadership of the European Union, including a number of European commissioners and heads of EU military structures as well as the vast majority of members of the European Parliament promoting anti-Russian policies," the statement read.

The ministry also claimed that rhetoric from European officials has contributed to Russophobic and "neo-Nazi" sentiment in Ukraine, per The Hill.

" … they are trying to involve other sovereign countries in these senseless and illegitimate efforts from the international legal point of view, which are fraught with a further escalation of tension in Europe and the world, contrary to their national interests. They are subjected to unprecedented pressure and blackmail," the Kremlin said.

The news comes as the White House announced in a statement on Thursday plans to release 1 million barrels of oil per day over the next six months, the largest release ever from the U.S. strategic reserves, CNBC reported.

"The scale of this release is unprecedented: the world has never had a release of oil reserves at this 1 million per day rate for this length of time. This record release will provide a historic amount of supply to serve as [a] bridge until the end of the year when domestic production ramps up," the administration said.

Oil prices dropped sharply on Wednesday evening after reports that the move was likely — a significant blow to Russia's leverage against the West on oil and gas.

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