Russia and the US should respect each other’s interests and resolve their disagreements through negotiations, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying said on Friday.

"Both Russia and the US are world powers that play an important role in maintaining peace and stability. They should resolve their disagreements through negotiations and respect each other’s interests in order to ensure the stable development of bilateral relations," she said.

On Thursday, the outgoing Obama administration imposed new sanctions against Russia.

These sanctions particularly apply to Russia’s Federal Security Service and the Main Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff. Besides, the US authorities declared 35 Russian diplomats as persona non grata.

Obama said in a statement that these actions "are a necessary and appropriate response to efforts to harm US interests in violation of established international norms of behavior". He added that "these actions are not the sum total of our response to Russia’s aggressive activities. We will continue to take a variety of actions at a time and place of our choosing, some of which will not be publicized".