Russia slams US for waging 'economic war'

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev labelled new US sanctions "economic war", as businesses in Moscow pledged yesterday to shrug off the impact of the measures approved reluctantly by Donald Trump.

The US president signed off on the new sanctions Wednesday, bowing to domestic pressure after the White House failed to scupper the bill or water it down.

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Expecting the move, Moscow already responded to the measures last week after they were passed by the Senate, ordering the US to slash staff at its diplomatic mission in Russia by 755 personnel.

The Kremlin said Trump's formal approval did not "change anything" and no further retaliation was planned.

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump said yesterday relations with Russia had hit an all-time and "very dangerous" low, putting the blame on Congress after he reluctantly approved sanctions against Moscow.

"Our relationship with Russia is at an all-time & very dangerous low," Trump wrote on Twitter.

"You can thank Congress, the same people that can't even give us HCare!" he added in reference to a recent defeat in the Senate on his health care reform plans.

ECONOMIC WAR

Medvedev fumed Wednesday evening on Facebook that the move "ends hopes for improving our relations with the new US administration."

"It is a declaration of a full-fledged economic war on Russia," Medvedev wrote.

"The Trump administration has shown its total weakness by handing over executive power to Congress in the most humiliating way."

The head of Russia's largest oil firm Rosneft -- which has already been targeted by earlier US sanctions imposed over the Ukraine crisis -- promised the company would try to avoid more pain.

SANCTIONS BACKFIRING

"We will seek to work in such a way as to minimize the impact of the sanctions," Igor Sechin, told Russian news agencies, adding that sanctions had "started backfiring" to damage American interests.

Iran reacted angrily, saying the new sanctions against it "violated" its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, and warned it would respond "appropriately."

The sanctions seek to penalize the Kremlin for allegedly meddling in the 2016 US presidential election and for Russia's annexation of Crimea.

Washington has already slapped several rounds of sanctions on Moscow over Ukraine since 2014, and in December then leader Barack Obama turfed 35 Russian diplomats out due to accusations of election interference.

Trump had received the legislation at 1:53 pm on Friday, but waited until Wednesday to sign it.

The delay had raised speculation that Trump might veto or try to somehow shelve the sanctions, which were approved in a 98-2 Senate vote.

By signing it, he avoided the humiliating prospect of Congress overriding his veto.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Wednesday that he would meet with his Russian counterpart Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov over the weekend, but warned US-Russia ties could still get worse.

A special prosecutor is investigating whether Trump advisers colluded with what US intelligence has concluded was an attempt by Russia to covertly support the real estate mogul's 2016 campaign.

The US president, who often called for warmer ties with Moscow during the White House race, has furiously denied the charge.