EU sanctions in response to the so-called Russian referendums on the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine should hit Russia, limiting themselves to cosmetic economic measures will not be enough, said the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba.

 "It will not be enough to impose personal restrictions on those persons who will participate in the organization and holding of these referendums. It will not be enough to limit ourselves to cosmetic economic measures. We need an extremely serious, effective reaction with concrete things that will hit the Russian economy. so-called referendums - all the more will be Russia's motivation to further escalate and annex territories," said Kuleba at a press conference with the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, Catherine Colonnoy.

 He emphasized that in the content of the eighth package of sanctions, we will see how seriously the EU treats the problem of so-called "referendums".

 "We have conveyed our expectations to our partners at all levels, and now the EU is already developing a new sanctions package... I can repeat what I told my colleagues in New York - that you cannot stop the annexation with words of deep concern and personal sanctions, you need serious steps," added Kuleba.

 The minister noted that the pseudo-referendums of the Russian Federation will not have any influence on the politics, diplomacy and actions of Ukraine on the battlefield.

 "The position of Ukraine and France is unanimous: this action, this show, staged by Putin, is extremely poorly directed and will have no consequences for the international situation, for the position of our partners regarding Russian aggression against Ukraine, and most importantly, these decisions of Putin will have no impact on politics, diplomacy and actions of Ukraine on the battlefield," Kuleba said.