The Kremlin said it needed time to assess the impact of new sanctions before considering any possible response. 

President Vladimir Putin would act in line with Russia's national interest, it said in response to new sanctions that the US imposed in reaction to UK spy agent nerve attack.

The sanctions took effect on Monday.

The US announced new sanctions on Russia earlier this month over a nerve agent attack in Britain.

The new measures terminate foreign assistance and some arms sales and financing to Russia, as well as deny the country credit and prohibit the export of security-sensitive goods and technology.

Russian Foreign Ministry has said the sanctions would only create more tension between the two countries.

Although President Donald Trump has often said he would like better ties with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, Washington's relations with Moscow are at a low – frayed by US allegations Russia interfered in its 2016 presidential election, and by disagreements over Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea and its role in the Syrian civil war.

Plans to impose the latest sanctions were announced by the Trump administration on Aug. 8, a response to what the State Department said was Moscow's use of a nerve agent against a former Russian agent and his daughter in Britain in March.

While fresh sanctions have devalued the Rouble, most Russian analysts believe the country's economy is strong enough to soften the sanctions' bite.

"We have very strong fundamentals," said Tatiana Evdokimova, the chief economist of Nordea Bank. "I mean, the level of sovereign debt is very low and the budget is in a good shape and we're actually in surplus. External trade is also in surplus. So overall I think the economy will be able to cope with all that."

The falling Rouble might even be a gift to some companies.

"If we see that the sanctions will lead to a lower Rouble, higher dollar, this will help us because we are exporting a lot of products which are quoted in dollars," said Alexander Prosiviryakov, the Chief Investment Officer at Whitestone Capital. "So for every barrel of oil sold, we'll get more roubles, this will make our economy more stable and we'll have more money to spend on social means, so it's good for our exporters actually.”

(CGTN's Dan Ashby also contributed to the story.)