WASHINGTON, December 16. /TASS/. Washington’s new sanctions against Moscow are "a gesture of feeble outrage," the Russian embassy in the US said in a statement.

"The US administration does not give up its close to insane efforts to expand its sanctions pressure on Russia. In a way that seems a favorite despite not being effective, new Russian officials, entrepreneurs, and companies are being ‘blacklisted’ en masse," the statement reads.

"The time, among the measures chosen to ‘punish’ our country for its sovereign foreign policy course, restrictions were imposed against a bicycle rental company. What is this, if not a gesture of feeble outrage by Washington?" the embassy said.

"Contrary to the propaganda statements by the U.S. officials, who claim that ‘just one bit more’ and the Russian economy will be ‘in tatters,’ this is not happening. And it certainly won't. Despite external pressure Russia will move forward in its development. And it intends to strengthen mutually beneficial cooperation with those who are truly interested in it," the statement added.

The US Department of the Treasury earlier imposed sanctions on Nornickel head Vladimir Potanin and his family members, as well as the Interros company and Rosbank. However, the US authorities said they would not sanction Nornickel. In addition, Russia’s deputy prime ministers Andrey Belousov and Dmitry Chernyshenko were also blacklisted, along with a number of regional governors, Russian Railways board members, the authorities of Russia’s new regions and 17 VTB subsidiaries.