Vienna: Western sanctions against Russia haven't worked and both Moscow and the West would benefit from lifting them, Russian President Vladimir Putin declared on Tuesday as he visited Austria - one of the European Union's more Moscow-friendly members.

Putin said the restrictions are "harmful for everyone - those who initiated them and those who are targeted by them."

Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, right, speaks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, in Vienna, Austria on Tuesday. Credit:AP

The United States, the European Union and other Western allies imposed a slew of sanctions against Moscow over its 2014 annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula and its support for separatists in eastern Ukraine who are fighting the government.

Coupled with a drop in oil prices, the sanctions contributed to Russia's two- year recession.