WASHINGTON — Russia warned Tuesday that it may halt cooperation with the United States on Iran and Syria in response to a continuing stream of U.S. sanctions.

One day after the Obama administration announced its latest penalties, the Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman, Alexander Lukashevich, said the sanctions “are putting in doubt prospects for bilateral cooperation on solving the situation around the Iranian nuclear program, the Syrian crisis and other acute international problems.”

“As Washington could have seen previously, we don’t leave such unfriendly acts without an answer,” he said in a statement in Moscow.

The State Department announced Monday it was penalizing four Russian officials under the so-called Magnitsky Act for alleged human rights abuses.

The U.S. government announced sanctions against Russian individuals and organizations five times previously this year in response to Russian actions in Ukraine. The latest sanctions have come at a delicate moment in U.S.-Russian relations.

While Russian President Vladimir Putin does not want to be seen bowing to Western pressure, many officials and analysts believe he may want to reduce tensions with the West to ease the economic pressure on his government from the recent sharp decline in oil prices and the effects of accumulating Western sanctions.

“He may realize his interests are better served by a better relationship with the U.S.,” a senior administration official said in a recent interview. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly about the diplomatically sensitive issue.


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