The European Union has announced new steps to counter Russia's decisions to annex Ukraine.

The European Union indicated that it is taking deterrent sanctions to confront the Russian annexation decisions of Ukrainian lands, according to Al-Arabiya.

The European Union stressed that Ukraine has the right to regain control of the territories annexed by Russia.

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the annexation of 4 Ukrainian regions to his country, claiming that this step is for the sake of Greater Russia.

Putin had signed the annexation of more than 15% of Ukraine's territory to Russia, while the leaders of Lugansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhia signed their regions to Russia.