MOSCOW (AP) — The Kremlin has shrugged off new Western sanctions over the poisoning and arrest of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny as unfounded and pointless but warned that Moscow will retaliate. U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration sanctioned seven Russian officials on Tuesday, along with more than a dozen government entities, over a nerve-agent attack on Navalny and his subsequent jailing. It coordinated the move with the European Union, which added to its own sanctions Tuesday. Commenting Wednesday on the U.S. and the EU decisions, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the sanctions against top Russian officials that include a freeze on their bank accounts duplicate Russia’s own law that bans them from having financial and other assets abroad.
