BRUSSELS, January 10. /TASS/. The European Union will expand sanctions pressure on Russia as well as on those countries that provide military aid to it, such as Belarus and Iran, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said at a press conference at NATO on Tuesday following the signing of a declaration on NATO-EU cooperation.

"We will keep the pressure on the Kremlin for as long as it takes with the biting sanctions regime. We will extend these sanctions to those who militarily support Russia’s war such as Belarus or Iran," she said.

The head of the European Commission supported providing to Ukraine any weapons it needs. "I think that Ukraine should get all the necessary military equipment they need and they can handle to defend their homeland and this means, of course, advanced air defense systems," she said. European Council President Charles Michel concurred saying that he fully supported this approach and the European Council repeatedly urged to increase military aid to Ukraine

On Tuesday, the European Union and NATO signed a new declaration on cooperation between the two organizations taking it "to the next level" against the background of the Ukrainian conflict.