MOSCOW (AP) — Mixing irony with scorn, President Vladimir Putin on Thursday described a new list including Russian officials and tycoons under a U.S. sanctions law as a hostile and "stupid" move spearheaded by President Donald Trump's political foes, but he said the Kremlin will refrain from retaliation for now.

Putin's reluctance to criticize Trump shows that he still hopes for normalizing ties with Washington. At the same time, the U.S. move could help the Russian leader in his re-election bid in March.

Some observers warn that the blanket list of 210 names, which reads like a who's who in R...