Moscow announced restrictions on meat imports from the United States on Friday although it denied suggestions it had done so in response to the US Senate's passage a day earlier of the so-called Magnitsky Act.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the parliament should now respond and Alexei Pushkov, a senior parliamentary deputy from President Vladimir Putin's party, said the State Duma lower house would discuss retaliatory measures this week. "As this is an attempt to interfere in our internal affairs, I would be very interested in a reaction by the state Duma that would be collective, on a multi-party basis and representing all party groups," Lavrov said in televised remarks.
Puskhov, who heads the chamber's foreign affairs committee, said a majority of lawmakers wanted a tough response, calling for visa restrictions on US citizens who have violated human rights. He did not say who this might include or what rights violations they were accused of making.
"The Americans have reminded us about the way Russia is viewed on Capitol Hill," Yuri Ushakov, a foreign policy adviser to Putin, was quoted as saying by Interfax news agency. "Stereotypes about our country persist and no one can get rid of them. So the Americans have made an extremely unfriendly move against us."
President Barack Obama, who launched a "reset" in relations with Russia less than four years ago, is likely to sign the Magnitsky legislation, which will test his and Putin's resolve to improve relations since both won elections this year. The new US legislation would bar visas for Russian officials linked to the 2009 death in custody of Sergei Magnitsky, a Russian lawyer who accused federal investigators of stealing $230 million from the state.
Lavrov told US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thursday that Russia would bar entry for Americans "guilty of crude human rights abuses." Moscow has also warned it would respond with "asymmetrical" measures. Areas in which the United States wants Russian co-operation most include nuclear arms control and Iran.
But there are also signs that Putin, back in the presidency since May, wants to limit the damage to relations with Russia's former Cold War enemy. Political analysts say the Magnitsky Act will probably not derail Russian assistance on Afghanistan, affect diplomacy aimed at curbing Iran's nuclear programme, or deepen disputes over US missile defence and the conflict in Syria.
Moscow is trying to ensure its interests are protected in Syria. Despite frequent denials that it is shifting position, Moscow appears to be preparing for when President Bashar al-Assad leaves power.
The Senate approved the "Magnitsky Act" as part of a broader bill to lift a Cold War-era restriction and grant Russia "permanent normal trade relations, " or PNTR. Despite Russian denials, analysts saw a link between the Magnitsky Act and Moscow's announcement of restrictions on meat imports from several countries, including the United States.
In a joint statement on Saturday, US Trade Representative Ron Kirk and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said Russia's new requirement for imported beef and pork to be certified free of ractopamine, a feed additive used in the US meat industry but banned in some other countries, appeared to be a violation of Moscow's obligations to the World Trade Organisation.