President Vladimir Putin discussed possible new U.S. sanctions against Russia with his Security Council on Friday, the TASS news agency quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying.
The U.S. State Department on Wednesday announced a new round of sanctions targeting Russia that pushed the rouble to two-year lows and sparked a wider sell-off over fears Russia was locked in a spiral of never-ending sanctions.
Separate legislation introduced last week in draft form by Republican and Democratic senators, dubbed "the sanctions bill from hell" by one of its backers, proposes curbs on the operations of several state-owned Russian banks in the United States and restrictions on their use of the dollar.
Putin and members of the Security Council said the latest round of sanctions was "absolutely illegal" under international law, Peskov was quoted as saying.
