MOSCOW, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- Russia is still ready to mend ties with the United States despite the prospect of new sanctions brought by Washington's newly released "Kremlin list," Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday.

The U.S. Treasury Department late Monday published a list of 114 Russian political figures and 96 business leaders widely seen as potential targets for new sanctions, although the document specifies that it should not be interpreted as a sanctions list.

"It is definitely an unfriendly act. It complicates Russia-U.S. relations, which are in a difficult situation even without this, and it also causes damage to the international relations in general," Putin said at a meeting with the trustees of his presidential campaign.

While underscoring that Russia cannot "surrender positions endlessly," the president said that Moscow is not interested in severing ties with Washington.

Instead, it wanted to develop stable relations with Washington based on international law and the two major nuclear powers are expected by their peoples to "build up their ties in a modern way with respect to each other," he said.

"We are not going to pick a fight and to aggravate the situation. We want and will be building relations patiently, as far as the other side is ready, the American side in this case," Putin said.

He said Moscow had expected the publication of the list and was ready to take steps in response, which "could drive our relations towards an absolute zero."

However, Russia would refrain from such steps for the time being and would attentively monitor the development of the situation, Putin said.

According to the Treasury, each figure in the "Kremlin report" has an estimated net worth of 1 billion U.S. dollars.

The document also has classified annexes, which include individuals with a lower official position or with a net worth below 1 billion dollars, as well as companies with state ownership of at least 25 percent and with 2016 revenues of 2 billion dollars or more.