Moscow, December 19 RHC)-- Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has warned that relations between Moscow and Washington "would be undermined" following new U.S. legislation authorizing more anti-Russia bans over the Ukraine crisis.

According to a statement issued by the Russian Foreign Ministry on Friday, Lavrov voiced concern over the new anti-Moscow measure adopted by the White House in a telephone conversation with US Secretary of State John Kerry.

"Sergei Lavrov said that after the U.S. President [Barack Obama] signed the Ukraine Freedom Act that threatens new sanctions against Russia, normal joint activities between [the two] countries would be undermined for a long time," the Russian Foreign Ministry quoted him as saying.

On Thursday, Obama signed a law giving him the power to slap more sanctions on Russia over Ukraine, saying he could use the authorities included in the measure "if circumstances warranted." The law, which was passed by the Congress last week, requires Obama to apply sanctions against Russia, but it also gives him the power to waive the application of the sanctions if he determines it is in the U.S. national security interest. The new measure also gives Obama the authority to send Ukraine extra military weapons.