The Kremlin has issued a stark statement about the U.S. as relations with Washington hit a new low over Ukraine's use of American-supplied weapons on Russian territory.

"We are now an enemy country for them, just as they are for us," Peskov told reporters when commenting on claims made by former American intelligence officer Scott Ritter that he was barred from traveling to Russia and had his passport confiscated by border officials.

Ritter, a former United Nations Special Commission weapons inspector, U.S. Marine Corps intelligence officer, and a convicted sex offender, told Russian state-run news agency Tass on Tuesday that he was removed from a flight from New York to Istanbul.

"Due to privacy considerations, we cannot share information about the passport status of private U.S. citizens without their consent," a State Department spokesperson told Newsweek.

These include, but are not limited to, laws and regulations affecting passport usage by individuals with active warrants or criminal records, fraud concerns, tax debt, and child support arrears," the spokesperson added.

The Kremlin's shift in rhetoric comes after President Joe Biden granted Ukraine permission to use some American-supplied weapons to strike targets in Russia.

The original article contains 618 words, the summary contains 191 words. Saved 69%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!