Russian President Vladimir Putin says a new list published by the US as part of a sanctions law has in effect targeted all of the Russian people.

The list names 210 top Russians as part of a law aimed at punishing Moscow for meddling in the US election.

Informally known as the Putin list, the unclassified section has 210 names, 114 of them in the government or linked to it, or key businessmen. The other 96 are oligarchs apparently determined more by the fact they are worth more than $1bn (£710m) than their close ties to the Kremlin.

However, the US stressed those named were not subject to new sanctions.

Mr Putin said the list was an unfriendly act that complicated US-Russia ties but he said he did not want to escalate the situation.

Mr Putin said Russia should instead be thinking about “ourselves and the economy”.

(BBC)