Asked whether Moscow would withdraw its cooperation in reining in the Iranian nuclear programme if the Western powers impose sanctions, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin told CNN that "if no one wants to talk to us about these problems, the cooperation with Russia become unnecessary, God bless, do this work yourself."

Russia, he said, has been working "very consistently and in good faith" with its partners to resolve all problems.

"We do so not because someone asks us and we want to look good to them. We are doing it because this is consistent with our national interests, because in these areas, our national interests coincide with those of many European countries and the United States," he said.

Asked whether Russia will use gas and oil to pressurise the Europeans who are dependent on it, Putin said that Moscow never politicises economic relations and is "quite astonished" at the position of the US officials who are travelling to the European capitals trying to persuade them not to buy Russian products, including natural gas.

It is a "truly amazing effort to politicise the economic sphere. In fact, it's "quite pernicious," he added.