OREANDA-NEWS The European Union firmly adheres to the strategy of putting pressure on Russia to stop the special military operation in Ukraine, despite the consequences anti-Russian sanctions cause to its own countries, said Eric Mamer, the official representative of the European Commission (EC).

"The EU's approach could make Russia withdraw its army from Ukraine and end this operation. We have imposed six packages of sanctions against Russia in order to do this", the spokesman said at a briefing in Brussels on Tuesday.

He also answered the question whether the EU is planning to revise the sanctions, given their consequences which are contrary to the economic interests of the European Union.

Mamer stressed that the European Union is aware that in the near term it will have to pay a certain price in order to achieve a long-term goal for Ukraine and reduce Russia's ability to conduct military operations against it.

"Of course, Europe is facing the consequences [of the anti-Russian sanctions]. But we are taking numerous initiatives to eliminate the effects of these consequences. And we also want to continue to have a very strong impact on Russia", the EC representative explained.