Russia cancels meeting with US diplomats after sanctions

Russia on Wednesday has canceled a high-level meeting with senior US diplomats that was aimed at discussing problems in bilateral ties.

The previously planned meeting between Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov and US Under Secretary of state Tom Shannon was scheduled for Friday in St. Petersburg to resolve problems in the relationship between the two countries.

The announcement comes after Washington on Tuesday blacklisted 38 individuals and entities over Russian activities in Ukraine, in a move that Moscow slammed as "destructive" and said would be a roadblock to improving the already frayed relations between the two nations.

The new US sanctions were "a continuation of the trend set by the Obama administration aimed at ruining relations between our countries", Ryabkov said in a statement published on the website of Russia's Foreign Ministry.

(With inputs from Reuters)