MOSCOW, – The Kremlin said Wednesday Western sanctions on Russia were “absolutely unacceptable” and dismissed as “outrageous” claims that the country’s security agency was behind the poisoning of opposition figure Alexei Navalny.

“We believe such measures are absolutely unacceptable because they significantly damage already bad relations,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists after the United States and the European Union slapped fresh sanctions on Moscow.

He added that it was “outrageous” to claim that a “poisoning took place and the Federal Security Service (FSB) was behind” it.