The European Commission's position on sanctions against Russia, which were imposed because of the war it is waging against Ukraine, remains unchanged: the main prerequisite for their lifting is the withdrawal of Russian troops from all of Ukraine.

European Commission spokeswoman Anitta Hipper said this in Brussels on Thursday, answering journalists' questions about the Kremlin's demand to reconnect Russian banks to the SWIFT system in order to agree to a temporary ceasefire.

“These sanctions have been imposed in the context of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine and the end of Russian's unprovoked and unjustified aggression in Ukraine and unconditional withdrawal of all Russian military forces from the entire territory of Ukraine would be one of the main preconditions to amend or lift sanctions and Russia must demonstrate a genuine political will to end its illegal and unprovoked war of aggression,” she said.

Hipper stressed that any peace agreement and any discussions on this issue must lead to a fair and lasting peace for Ukraine.

However, she did not answer the question of whether the White House had already contacted Brussels on this issue.

The European Commission spokeswoman stated that “on the political side what we are aiming at is maximizing the pressure on Russia. So this is number one and this is why we're using all our tools at our disposal.” “That's why we have 16 sanction packages. That's why we're working on another one and this is why we are enhancing all the support in terms of military ammunition and air defense for Ukraine. This is not about or let me put it differently. This is about wanting a just and durable peace. Ukraine wants this more than anyone. This is also what the EU wants and this is what we are there to do,” Hipper stressed.

She also explained that any decisions on sanctions must be taken unanimously.