Russian military aggression in Ukraine will have a serious impact on economic activity and inflation in the European zone by increasing energy and commodity prices, as well as undermining international trade and weakening confidence, European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde said during a press conference following a meeting held on Thursday.

The extent of these consequences will depend on the further development of the situation, on the effect of the current sanctions and possible further measures, she said.

The ECB's basic scenario, taking into account the first assessments of the consequences of the war, assumes that the European economy will grow by only 3.7% this year, and not by 4.2%, as was previously expected. The inflation forecast for the current year was raised by the ECB to 5.1% from 3.2%.