MADRID, February 4. /TASS/. The EU is already at war with Russia, Secretary General of the European External Action Service Belen Martinez Carbonell has said.

"The fact is that we are already at war with Russia," the official told the Spanish newspaper El Pais in an interview. At the same time, she said she prefers to believe that the European Union is not moving toward a war involving the mobilization of European citizens who would fight on the front lines.

"We may have to make compromises in order to avoid military escalation," she noted. "Strengthening defense means reallocating resources, investing more in one area and less in another." According to Carbonell, protecting Europe will come at a high cost.

In December, Russian President Vladimir Putin said during his Results of the Year program that it is not Moscow that is at war with the West, but rather the West that is waging war on Russia through Ukrainian nationalists. Earlier, the Russian leader said that Russia had no intention of going to war with Europe. Putin stressed however that if Europe were to start a war, Russia would be at the ready to defend itself.