New sanctions on Russia signed into law by President Donald Trump are tantamount to a "full-scale trade war," Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said Wednesday.
In a Facebook post, Medvedev wrote the penalties also showed the Trump administration was utterly powerless, Reuters reported.
"The hope that our relations with the new American administration would improve is finished," he wrote.
Trump signed the sanctions Wednesday – penalties were also included against Iran and North Korea – but called the measure "seriously flawed," saying he could make "far better deals" than Congress.
Trump said he was signing the measure "for the sake of national unity."
But The Hill noted Congress would likely have overrode any presidential veto.
After the sanctions were signed into law, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Moscow may impose countermeasures.
"It's high time to realize that threats and attempts to exert pressure on Russia will not make it change its course or sacrifice its national interests," a ministry statement said, The Hill reported.
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