Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman said the anti-Russian sanctions will not be lifted unless Russia changes its policy towards Ukraine.

"The sanctions against the aggressor were introduced precisely as a punishment for violation of international law, and can only be revoked when the aggressor abandons its plans and starts respecting international law and nations' rights to self-determination, territorial integrity and borders of sovereign states," the premier said during his speech at the Kerber Foundation in Berlin on Monday.

The sanctions are not a goal in itself but "merely a tool of forcing into stopping the aggression," Groysman said.

Ukraine will continue defending European principles and values, he said.