MOSCOW, April 25. /TASS/. Russia is prepared to take new retaliatory measures against the US if Washington keeps the escalation path, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on the Rossiya-1 TV channel.

"Everything was said in our response to the latest unfriendly US steps. We announced all measures, which have been taken and are ready to take more if this escalation continues," Lavrov said.

Russian-US relations significantly soured after Biden’s notorious ABC News interview when he said that Moscow would have to "pay a price" for allegedly interfering in US elections and went on to uphold a disparaging remark about President Vladimir Putin. Russia’s envoy to the US Anatoly Antonov was then pulled, returning to Moscow for consultations. That said, he has been in the Russian capital since March 21.

On April 15, the White House announced more sanctions against Russia. Moscow retaliated with tit-for-tat moves on April 16.

Putin-Biden meeting

Moscow is upbeat about Washington’s proposal on holding the meeting between the Russian and US presidents, Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden, and is now considering this possibility, Lavrov told.

"At the same time, upon the instruction of Russian President Vladimir Putin, I mentioned what concerns the proposal of US President Joe Biden on holding the summit. It was positively perceived and is being considered now," Lavrov said.

On April 15, Biden announced that during his phone conversation with Putin he suggested holding a summit in Europe this summer. According to him, the sides were discussing this possibility.