Moscow calls US sanctions 'illegitimate'

The economic sanctions imposed by the United States are a revenge on Russia, the country's foreign ministry said Wednesday.

"There is an impression that the American sanctions have only one aim -- to get even with Russia for our independent policy which is inconvenient for the US," Xinhua quoted a ministry statement as saying.

The ministry warned that Washington will strongly feel real losses brought by its "unsubstantiated and illegitimate" sanctions.

As the European Union (EU) approved tougher sanctions against Russia Tuesday, US President Barack Obama also swiftly announced new penalties targeting key sectors of Russia's economy.

Moreover, the ministry refuted as "bewildering" Obama's accusation that Russia is not cooperating with the international investigation into Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 crash.

"Russia was one of the first countries that gave its objective data over the crash, while the US has still not provided any facts, except for groundless accusations and data collected from social networks," ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said.

He said Russia was the one to have immediately appointed its representatives in the investigation.

Meanwhile, during his visit to Tajikistan, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov Wednesday said that the Kiev authorities, as well as a number of Western countries, have been preventing international experts from beginning their work at the crash scene, which grossly violated the United Nations Security Council resolution adopted July 21.