MOSCOW (AP) — A spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin says Russia regrets a decision by the U.S. government to ban federal agencies from using Kaspersky Labs software.

Dmitry Peskov told journalists on Thursday the U.S. move "cast a shadow over the image of our American colleagues as reliable partners" and was designed to cripple Kaspersky's competitive advantage on the international market.

The U.S. cited concerns about Kaspersky's ties to Russian intelligence services as the reason for the ban, which was announced Wednesday. The anti-virus company has repeatedly denied the existence of any such ties.

Anton Shingarov, Kaspersky's vice president of public relations, says Thursday in Moscow that "this is part of a geopolitical game ... There is no proof provided of any improper ties to the Russian government."