Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov  said today there was no need for "hysterics" after members of the Pussy Riot punk band were sentenced to two years in prison for a political protest.

"There is still the possibility of filing an appeal and the lawyers for the young girls plan to do so. Let's not draw any rash conclusions and go off into hysterics," Lavrov told reporters during a visit to Helsinki.

His remarks were the first by a member of the Russian government since the sentences were handed down last week on band members Maria Alyokhina, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Yekaterina Samutsevich for performing an anti-Vladimir Putin song in Russia's top church.

They were found guilty of "hooliganism motivated by religious hatred" for their February 21 protest in Moscow's Christ the Saviour Cathedral.

The West decried the sentencing, with the United States saying it was "disproportionate" and the European Union calling the punishment excessive.

Lavrov said his government had not interfered with the legal system.

"Interfering with the courts' work is inadmissible. We can only have a personal opinion on the verdict," he said.

"I want to remind everyone who tries to say that our court made its decision under pressure that on the eve of the verdict, the Russian president called for leniency for these young girls," he added.