The Russian economy had slid into recession as it contracted for two consecutive quarters, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said Wednesday.

"If we stick to the definition of recession as negative growth for two consecutive quarters, then Russia in this sense is experiencing a recession," Antonio Spilimbergo, head of the IMF mission to Russia, was quoted by the state RIA Novosti news agency as saying.

Spilimbergo said the economic impact of individual sanctions against Russia was hard to assess, but the fears of sanction had stronger effect than the sanctions themselves.

"The difficult situation and especially the uncertainty surrounding the geopolitical situation and escalation of sanctions are weighing very negatively on the investment climate," he added.

Several major Western powers have announced fresh sanctions against Russia amid rising tensions in Ukraine's eastern and southeastern regions.

Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev attributed Russia's economic difficulties to attempts of "some forces," but he insisted that his government was prepared for new conditions.

Spilimbergo said a tighter monetary stance was required in the near term to anchor the Russian central bank's inflationary expectations. The IMF sees 2014 inflation at above 6 percent, exceeding the bank's target of 5 percent.

The Russian Ministry of Economic Development said earlier this week that the seasonally adjusted GDP in the first quarter of 2014 dropped by 0.5 percent year-on-year.

Last week, the Finance Ministry also warned that the national economy in the second quarter of this year had been sliding toward a "technical" recession.