KYIV- European Union sanctions against Russia over Moscow's treatment of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny show the EU is united in its commitment to defending the bloc's values, European Council President Charles Michel said on Wednesday.

Michel, who chairs EU leaders' summits, defended the EU sanctions after the Kremlin said Russia would retaliate with reciprocal measures. 

"It (imposing sanctions) means that we are totally committed and we are united in Europe in order to be very tough, very firm, in order to promote our values, to defend our interests," he said in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv.

Navalny was flown to Germany after falling ill in Siberia last August and German doctors said he was poisoned with a nerve agent. The Kremlin has denied any role in his illness and said it has seen no proof he was poisoned.

Michel was speaking alongside Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who urged the EU to impose more sanctions on Russia over alleged human rights violations in Crimea, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014.

"I do not believe in a return to business as usual in relations between the European Union and the Russian Federation without restoring the territorial integrity of our state," Zelenskiy said.

The EU and the United States have pumped money into Ukraine and promoted its integration with the West. While urging Kyiv to tackle corruption, Michel said "there is no Europe without Ukraine".

Zelenskiy wants EU leaders to help Ukraine - which has banned the use of Russia's Sputnik V vaccine - to secure COVID-19 vaccines more quickly.

Ukraine has not received any vaccines from EU countries though Zelenskiy said he was in talks with Poland on securing more than 1 million doses.

Michel said the EU had given additional financial aid to Ukraine to cope with the pandemic and supported the global COVAX scheme for poorer countries to receive vaccines, of which Ukraine is a beneficiary.

(Reporting by Matthias Williams and Pavel Polityuk and Natalia Zinets; Editing by Toby Chopra and Timothy Heritage) ((matthias.williams@thomsonreuters.com;))