Russia has warned on Wednesday that it will take adequate measures after the US increased sanctions on Russian citizens and organizations in response to the 2014 annexation of the Crimea.

Those targeted by the latest sanctions are six bankers, as well as Yevgeny Prigozhin, who is known as Kremlin's caterer and has close links to Russia's defense ministry.

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When Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in March 2014, asset freezes and travel bans were imposed by the US and EU on individuals and companies linked to Russian elites. Several other casualties were added to the list a few months later.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov did not elaborate on what new measures Russia intends to take. Russia imposed a food import ban on European countries as retaliation in 2014.

"We can only once again express regret and misunderstanding over this destructive persistence of our U.S colleagues. We believe this damages bilateral relations," Peskov said on Wednesday.

Hours earlier, the US Treasury revealed that it would target six top officials at Bank Rossiya and its affiliates ABR Management and Sobibank. One of the executives is Kirill Kovalchuk, the nephew of Bank Rossiya's biggest shareholder Yuri Kovalchuk, who is known as Russia's President Vladimir Putin's personal banker.

Several construction and transport companies linked by the US treasury to Crimea have also been hit with sanctions.

It is however not clear whether the US sanctions on Russia will continue to be imposed ater President-elect Donald Trump moves into office.

When quizzed on the sanctions, Reince Preibus, who has been picked by Trump as the White House chief of staff, said that "as far as where the product goes next, you just have to wait and see."

The EU has not added more names to its list of sanctions. But EU leaders agreed that sanctions against Russia should be extended for another six months, although some member states such as Italy and Slovakia want the measures eased.

TagsRussia, US, Russian sanctions