BERLIN, May 1 (TASS) - German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock believes the lifting of anti-Russia sanctions is only possible if the Russian troops are withdrawn from Ukrainian soil.

"Ceasefire may be only the first step. For us it is clear that sanctions will only be lifted if Russia withdraws its troops," she said in an interview with the Bild am Sonntag newspaper published on Sunday.

"Only if all in Europe see again that no country can eventually win a war and that there will only be those losing the true peace will come," the minister added.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on February 24 that in response to a request by the heads of the Donbass republics he had made a decision to carry out a special military operation in Ukraine, stressing that Moscow had no plans of occupying Ukrainian territories. Western countries responded to the actions of the Russian authorities by slapping sanctions against Russian physical and legal entities.