In this file photo taken on Nov. 11, 2017, U.S. President Donald Trump (R) and Russian President Vladimir Putin talk as they make their way to take the "family photo" during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders' summit in the central Vietnamese city of Danang. (Xinhua/AFP)
MOSCOW, May 28 (Xinhua) -- A total of 245 Russian citizens and 439 legal entities are currently under U.S. sanctions, a senior official from the Russian Foreign Ministry said Monday.
Since 2011, the United States has imposed 52 rounds of sanctions on Russia, Georgy Borisenko, director of the North American Department of the ministry, told a meeting of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the Federation Council, the upper house of the Russian parliament.
The committee is discussing a bill, recently passed by the State Duma, the lower parliamentary house, authorizing Russian President Vladimir Putin to impose sanctions in response to restrictions adopted by the United States and its allies.
The upper house is scheduled to examine the bill at its plenary session on Wednesday.
The bill has to be endorsed by the Federation Council before being signed into law by Putin.