"As you know, I was included on another list of sanctions. It turns out the US has quite a few of them. I got so scared that I travelled to my native town of Benoy. Pompeo, come, it is very beautiful here, we will talk and discuss who violated whose rights", Kadyrov said in a video statement, posted on the website of local broadcaster Grozny.
On Monday, Pompeo announced a fresh portion of sanctions over violation of human rights against Kadyrov and members of his family, including wife Medni and daughters Aishat and Khadizhat. Among everything else, the Kadyrovs have been banned from entering the United States.
The Chechen leader has already been sanctioned by the US in the past. In 2017, the US Treasury designated Kadyrov under the 2012 Magnitsky Act over "gross violations of internationally recognised human rights."
In response to the new designation on Monday, Kadyrov has said that he "accepts the fight" and "what follows will be interesting."