All sanctions against Russian companies are illegal: diplomat

All sanctions imposed on Russian companies, including the country's oil and gas giant Rosneft, are illegal, a senior Russian diplomat said Tuesday.

"I would propose to this court to familiarize itself with the UN Charter. Only the UN Security Council has the political right to announce sanctions against countries and foreign companies," Deputy Foreign Minister Aleksey Meshkov was quoted as saying by Sputnik.

He was referring to a ruling of the European Court of Justice.

Earlier in the day, the court in Luxembourg ruled that economic sanctions adopted by the EU on Russian undertakings over the Ukrainian crisis are valid, rejecting Rosneft's request to remove EU sanctions against it.

"The Court of Justice has jurisdiction to give preliminary rulings on the legality of restrictive measures against individuals or entities in the context of the common foreign and security policy," the court said in its ruling.

It said that strengthening sanctions against Russia was also proportionate to "the interference with Rosneft's freedom to conduct a business and its right to property."

Rosneft, a major party to the dispute, said it was disappointed by the court's decision.

"Rosneft considers the decision of the EU Court of Justice ... illegal, groundless and politicized," Rosneft said in a press release.

"Rosneft continues to insist that it has not committed any illegal actions in any jurisdiction of the company's activities, including Ukraine, and has no link to the Ukrainian crisis," the company said.

Rosneft filed a legal challenge against EU's decision in July 2014 to restrict certain financial transactions and sensitive exports of Rosneft. Endi