Putin says US 'oligarch list' is a hostile act

The U.S. published a sweeping list of Kremlin oligarchs and officials late Monday, triggering a fierce backlash from Russia's leader.

As part of a sanctions law aimed at punishing Moscow for interfering in the U.S. presidential election, the U.S. Treasury Department published a report listing a number of individuals closely affiliated with the Russian government. It details the names of 114 Russian politicians and 96 oligarchs — some with close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The report was a requirement of U.S. legislation passed in 2017, which was designed to ensure that President Donald Trump's administration would continue to keep up the pressure on Moscow over military intervention in Ukraine. However, the U.S. has said those named in the list were not being targeted with new sanctions.

Speaking on Tuesday, Putin said the country was not planning to retaliate but called it an unfriendly act, according to Reuters. He added that it complicates Russia-U.S. ties and said it was stupid to treat Russia like North Korea or Iran.

"We want to establish long-term and stable relations," Putin said, according to the news agency.

'Vicious from the outset'

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov suggested the list could be damaging to the image of Russian firms, businessmen and officials. And while Moscow would look to analyze the report before drawing any further conclusions, Peskov said the "unprecedented" list had de facto labeled those mentioned as "enemies of the USA," according to Reuters.

Alongside Peskov, some of the other names on the list were Alisher Usmanov, part owner of London soccer club Arsenal, and Andrey Kostin, chief executive of the second-biggest lender, VTB.