MOSCOW: New US legislation authorising sanctions on Russia could undermine relations between Moscow and Washington for a long time, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday.

In a phone call to United States Secretary of State John Kerry, Mr Lavrov said the new legislation “could undermine the possibility of normal cooperation between our countries for a long time,” said a foreign ministry statement.

President Barack Obama has signed a law giving him the authority to impose new sanctions on Russia.

He said he was not about to change the sanctions regime on Russia but that his administration would “continue to review and calibrate our sanctions to respond to Russia’s actions.

Published in Dawn, December 20th, 2014