THE United States on Tuesday announced sanctions and restrictions against Russian individuals and entities over the alleged poisoning of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny.

In an online statement, the Russian Foreign Ministry called the U.S. sanctions “a hostile anti-Russian attack” under an absurd pretext.

“Entangled in its own internal problems, the White House is again trying to cultivate the image of an external enemy. We have repeatedly commented on this American policy, which is devoid of logic and meaning and only more and more worsens bilateral relations,” the statement said.

The ministry said Russia will retaliate based on the principle of reciprocity and continue to resolutely defend its national interests.

U.S. actions against Russia include export and visa restrictions, a senior administration official told reporters in a briefing call.

The U.S. intelligence community assessed that officers of Russia’s Federal Security Service used a nerve agent known as Novichok to poison Navalny on Aug. 20, 2020, the official said.

Russia has repeatedly denied such accusations, saying the case with Navalny is a purely domestic affair and foreign intervention is not allowed.

“This is an exclusively internal matter. We will not allow anyone to interfere nor intend to listen to such statements,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in January.

The U.S. Treasury was designating seven senior members of the Russian Government, according to the briefing call. In addition, the U.S. Commerce Department added 14 parties to its entity list for their involvement in various aspects of biological agent and chemical production.

“Today is the first such response, and there will be more to come,” said the senior official, adding that the United States would work closely with its European allies “in calling out and confronting Russia.”

Meanwhile, he noted that “the United States is neither seeking to reset our relations with Russia nor are we seeking to escalate.”

This move came as the EU placed sanctions on four Russian officials in connection to the imprisonment of Navalny on Monday.

Relations between Washington and Moscow have been adversarial for recent years. The two were bitterly divided over Ukraine, Syria, and cybersecurity issues. They mutually accused the other of domestic political interference.(Xinhua)