President of the Austrian Federal Economic Chambers Christoph Leitl has on Wednesday spoken out against the European Union and United States sanctions against Russia.

"Business should not be misused as an instrument of politics," he said in an interview with the ORF Mittagsjournal radio program.

Additionally he cautioned that Austrian exports to Russia would likely fall by one-fifth for the current year on the back of current developments.

He said that while he understood the attitude of European countries, he nonetheless called for calm and said dialogue was of most importance.

According to Statistics Austria figures released Tuesday, Austrian trade with Russia has already been on the decline, the most recent figures for the month of April showing a drop in imports from 374 million U.S. dollars in April 2013 to 242 million dollars a year later, while exports to Russia dropped from 448 million dollars to 317 million U.S. dollars over the same period.