Moscow accuses US of 'anti-Russian lunge' after imposition of new sanctions

The United States on Tuesday, in President Joe Biden's most direct challenge yet to the Kremlin, imposed sanctions to punish Russia for what it described as Moscow's attempt to poison opposition politician Alexei Navalny with a nerve agent last year.

Russia's foreign ministry late on Tuesday said new sanctions imposed by the Unite States were evidence of a "hostile anti-Russian lunge" that further harmed relations between Washington and Moscow.

Russian President Vladimir Putin (AP)

The United States on Tuesday, in President Joe Biden's most direct challenge yet to the Kremlin, imposed sanctions to punish Russia for what it described as Moscow's attempt to poison opposition politician Alexei Navalny with a nerve agent last year.

"We will respond based on the principle of reciprocity, but not necessarily symmetrically," foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova was cited as saying in a statement.