Russia cancels US meeting over sanctions

Russia has cancelled a meeting with senior US diplomats in the wake of Washington's decision to reinforce sanctions imposed over its occupation of Crimea, US officials said on Wednesday.

US Under Secretary of State Tom Shannon had been due in St Petersburg later this week to meet and mend diplomatic fences with Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov.

Relations between Moscow and Washington are at a low even by the standards of a rivalry that goes back to the Cold War.