how can I use IF ELSE in variables of azure DevOps yaml pipeline with variable group?

This code works.
I'm doing similar with parameters.

variables:
  - name: var1
    ${{ if eq(parameters.var1, 'custom') }}:
      value: $(var1.manual.custom)
    ${{ if ne(parameters.var1, 'custom') }}:
      value: ${{ parameters.var1 }}

Syntax with template expressions ${{ if ...... }} is not limited only to job/stage level. Both below pipeline does the same and produce the same output:

stages:
- stage: One
  displayName: Build and restore
  variables:
  - group: PROD
  - name: env
    ${{ if eq(variables['Build.SourceBranchName'], 'master') }}:
      value: a
    ${{ if eq(variables['Build.SourceBranchName'], 'dev') }}:
      value: b
  jobs:
  - job: A
    steps:
    - script: | 
        echo '$(name)'
        echo '$(env)'

variables:
- group: PROD
- name: env
  ${{ if eq(variables['Build.SourceBranchName'], 'master') }}:
    value: a
  ${{ if eq(variables['Build.SourceBranchName'], 'dev') }}:
    value: b

steps:
- script: | 
    echo '$(name)'
    echo '$(env)'