The economies of the EU countries lost a lot on sanctions against Russia, but their application was the right decision in response to Russian aggression in Ukraine, Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni said during a visit to the US.

"Neither the US nor the European Union should forget about the Ukrainian crisis," the Italian prime minister said during a speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, Ukrinform reports..

"But we were right in responding to what happened," the Italian prime minister said, referring to anti-Russian sanctions.

Gentiloni said that Italy and Germany will lose the most from imposing sanctions against Russia after it occupied the Ukrainian Crimea and supported separatists in the Donbass. However, he believes that the US and the EU "should not show not weakness, but unity" reacting to aggression from Russia ".

Italy at the EU summit on December 15 blocked the initiative to extend the existing sanctions against Russia for a year, rather than for six months, as well as the introduction of new sanctions for war crimes in Syria.