People living with HIV will continue to face strict restrictions on their ability to travel to Russia.
Russia's Health Ministry had proposed scrapping the ban in a bid to combat discrimination against those with the disease.
Foreigners who have tested HIV positive are currently unable to receive long term visas or live in Russia. It does not affect those traveling on a tourist visa.
Plans to scrap the ban were dropped after opposition from the Internal Affairs Ministry, which claimed that the change could “compromise national security” by threatening “the health of the Russian people,” the RBC news outlet reported Monday.
The Health Ministry still hopes to drop legislation which prohibits people with HIV from adopting or serving in the army.
Foreigners with HIV only won the right to live in the country with a Russian partner, child, or parent in March 2015.
Russia's Constitutional Court ruled on the case after two Ukrainian citizens and a Moldovan found themselves stripped of their residency and deported after being testing HIV positive — despite being married to Russian nationals.
In October 2016, a entry ban against
foreigners who had fully recovered from infectious diseases such as
tuberculosis was also declared as unconstitutional.
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