AFP

Russian authorities on Wednesday temporarily closed four McDonald's restaurants in Moscow due to alleged sanitary violations as East-West tensions soar over the crisis in war-torn Ukraine.

The Moscow office of Russia's powerful consumer safety agency Rospotrebnadzor said inspections of the food and premises at the four restaurants of the US fast food giant found "numerous violations of sanitary legislation requirements".

The company said in a statement that it was studying the complaints and that "McDonald's top priority is to provide safe and quality products".

McDonald's added that it would do everything possible to ensure the company's continued successful operation in Russia, where it has some 430 restaurants.

Rospotrebnadzor had already last month expressed doubts about the "quality and safety of food products in the entire McDonald's chain" and said it was taking the company to court for quality violations and improper labelling.

That action coincided with Moscow's decision to start banning numerous food products, ostensibly for health reasons, from countries that imposed sanctions on Russia over its backing of rebels in eastern Ukraine.

Russia later banned most food imports from the European Union and US in a tit-for-tat response to Western sanctions.

McDonald's said last month it calculates food and energy values of its products based on methodology approved by the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences.

The opening of the first McDonald's by Moscow's central Pushkin Square in 1990 lured massive crowds of Soviets who would queue for hours for a taste of American fast food.