Tougher U.S. sanctions would hurt Russia's credit profile: Moody's

LONDON (Reuters) - Moody's on Friday became the latest major rating agency to warn that Russia's credit profile would be damaged if the United States introduces tough new sanctions against Moscow.

"The most disruptive potential new sanctions could come from the U.S. legislature, where proposals have included sanctioning sovereign debt, state-owned financial institutions and the energy sector," Moody's, which currently has a "positive outlook" on its sub-investment grade Ba1 Russia rating, said.

The move follows a similar warning from Fitch last month which said it was likely to strip Russia's rating of its positive outlook if debt-focused sanctions were introduced by Washington.

(Reporting by Marc Jones; editing by Helen Reid)