Russia says US sanctions may hurt talks on Iran, Syria

Russia has angrily criticised the latest US sanctions, saying they could derail cooperation with Washington on dealing with the Iranian nuclear standoff and the Syrian crisis.

Russia-US ties have plunged to post-Cold War lows over Ukraine as Washington has introduced economic sanctions against Moscow for its annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula and support for a pro-Russian insurgency in eastern Ukraine.

In the latest move, the US has imposed sanctions on four Russians under a law targeting Russian human rights violators.

The Russian Foreign Ministry yesterday dismissed the new US sanctions as unfounded and warned Washington that its actions "are putting in question the prospects for bilateral cooperation in settling the situation around the Iranian nuclear program, the Syrian crisis and other acute international problems.