Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said Thursday that the new sanctions levied against Russia could set Russian relations with other countries back to the Cold War era.

Medvedev said the sanctions are crippling Russia's economy.

"Any sanction is evil. They don't add any optimism for the economy or for the people and never bring any obvious success," he said "during a government meeting," according to Russian news source RIA Novosti.

"We will simply return to the '80s in relations with states that are introducing these sanctions," he said.

The Cold War era increased tensions between Western nations and Russia, including the U.S. and NATO members. NATO imposed strict sanctions on Russian politicians and the economy during the 1980s. The sanctions were lifted when the Cold War ended in 1991 following the fall of communism.

The U.S. Treasury announced a Sectoral Sanctions Identification list Wednesday that affects Russian companies, as well as the energy, defense and banking sectors of the Russian economy. The sanctions were imposed because of the crisis in Ukraine and particularly because of Russia's annexation of Crimea in March.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said the new sanctions could bring diplomatic ties between U.S. and Russia to a halt.

The U.S. and the European Union had already imposed sanctions against Russian officials and some companies, and the new list of sanctions included more Russian companies, which could devastate the country economically.

The U.S. engages in less trade with Russia than the E.U., which allows the Obama administration to lobby for sanctions against vital sectors of Russia's economy. Some European countries that have stronger trade ties with Russia oppose the sanctions.

Moscow has censured the sanctions, saying they will harm the global economy.

Medvedev said the Western sanctions will harm budget policies in Russia in key sectors like defense and security.

"Naturally, all our social responsibilities will be fulfilled; we have enough money for it. But, in addition, we will have to pay more attention to expenditures for defense and security," he told RIA Novosti.

He added that the "sectoral sanctions" will "unfortunately lead to further growth of anti-American and anti-European sentiments."

Russia is the third-largest defense spender in the world, and its defense spending is expected to grow 13.5 percent this year. Russia has more than doubled its defense budget since 2007, surpassing Japan and the U.K., RT.com said in reporting on an IHS review. Spending will triple by 2016, RT.com said.

Russia compensates for Western cuts in defense spending, along with China. Russia also contributed to the expected 0.6 percent global increase in defense spending in 2014.

Russia has received international condemnation because of its recent actions in the war in east Ukraine. Pro-Russia Ukrainians have been waging war against the Ukrainian military and the government in Kiev for several months in an attempt to break free from Ukrainian control.

Fighting between the Ukrainian military and the pro-Russia separatists has continued into the summer, with Ukraine and the U.S. suspecting Russia of aiding the separatists. However, Russia has continuously denied such allegations.