Russia pays a high economic price for its aggression, and without sanctions, "Putin would not be engaged in the Normandy process, designed to find a peaceful solution," Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has said.

"Sanctions are the only non-military instrument that we have at our disposal in order to put pressure on the aggressor in such a situation. In general, this does not mean punishing Russia. The goal is to keep Putin at the negotiating table. And in this sense sanctions are very effective," the presidential press service said on Saturday, referring to Poroshenko's interview with the German newspaper Rheinische Post.

"Believe me, without them Putin would not be engaged in the Normandy process, which is called to find a peaceful solution. Now Russia is paying a high economic price for its aggressive foreign policy, and Putin's popularity has also suffered because of this," the Ukrainian president said.

Poroshenko added: "The Russians have long done away with the bellicose euphoria that prevailed in the first place due to the annexation of Crimea. Today many people ask: what does it cost us?"

The president of Ukraine also commented on the discussions among European governments on the possibility of lifting sanctions as soon as possible, in particular the discussions in the Italian government. "Putin counted on it from the very beginning: he thought that the common position of Europeans on this issue will fail. He hoped for nothing that after the presidential elections in 2017, France, under the influence of the right-populist National Front, would surrender positions in the issue of sanctions. Then he placed a bet on the growth of positions of AfD in Germany Party [Alternative for Germany] and the completion of the cadence of Angela Merkel to finally get rid of the sanctions," Poroshenko said.

"Putin's estimations have not worked until now. Europe has preserved unity, and for this we are infinitely grateful to our European friends," the Ukrainian president stressed.