Lithuanian Foreign Minister: As Long As Belarus Helps Russia, There Are No Grounds to Lift Sanctions
Lithuania's position remains unchanged.
As long as Belarus supports Russian aggression against Ukraine and continues hybrid actions against neighboring countries, there are no grounds to change the sanctions policy. This was stated by Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys in an interview with the 'Vot Tak' project. According to Budrys, Vilnius sees no reason to change the current approach to Minsk, continues to coordinate actions with allies, and simultaneously prepares for a possible increase in threats from Russia.
Sanctions Against Belarus Will Not Change
According to Kęstutis Budrys, Lithuania regularly discusses with the United States both the general policy towards Belarus and issues of political prisoner release.
«We discuss with the United States both their general policy towards Belarus and specific efforts to release political prisoners. Lithuania actively participates in this. We provide logistical assistance, shelter defenders of democratic values and human rights from Belarus, as well as representatives of the opposition. We will continue this work in the future. We also consult on European Union sanctions, their prospects, and the reasons for their introduction,» Budrys said.
The Minister emphasized that Lithuania's position remains unchanged.
«As long as Belarus supports Russian aggression against Ukraine, carries out hybrid actions against neighboring countries — Lithuania and Poland, and now, against the background of increasing illegal migration, also against Latvia — there are no grounds to claim that the reasons for sanctions have disappeared,» he stated.
Budrys noted that EU sanctions will remain in effect at least until the beginning of next year.
«I see no signs that this policy needs to be changed now. We will continue to follow the previous course. We see that the United States sometimes uses a different approach and employs sanctions as a tool for the release of political prisoners. But Lithuania has a different view of the situation, because the damage from Belarus's actions is inflicted directly on us,» the minister said.
According to the head of the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry, it's not just about the migration crisis, but also about other tools of pressure from Minsk.
«This includes the already mentioned illegal migration, and the use of smuggling as a tool of pressure, and other measures. This is constant pressure. I believe that sanctions work, they are necessary, and actions in this area should be coordinated at least at the regional level,» Budrys noted.
Russia Expects a Prolonged Confrontation
According to Budrys' assessment, Moscow is preparing for a long-term confrontation with the West and may try to test NATO's readiness.
«Russia's mistake could be an attempt to test NATO's unity — to test us in one place or another. We are already seeing quite a few similar signals in the public space that conversations and discussions about such plans are indeed taking place in Russia,» Budrys said.
At the same time, the minister emphasized that it is necessary to prepare for such scenarios in advance.
«There is no need to wait for a specific warning to start preparing. We just need to do our job. If our readiness is high, if we think through solutions in advance and act quickly and in coordination, Russia will not be able to exploit any grey zone or delay in decision-making,» he stated.
According to Budrys, allies do not need to rediscover solutions.
«It seems to me that we should not forget that we actually know what needs to be done. Now it is necessary to accelerate the pace of implementing our plans,» the minister said.
Budrys also commented on Russian lawsuits against the Baltic states. According to him, Vilnius knew about the preparation of these steps in advance and warned its EU partners.
«We learned about this intention some time ago. I personally, along with colleagues — foreign ministers of other Baltic countries — informed the foreign ministers of EU member states about Russia's plans. At that time, it was just an intention, but now it has been realized: Russia has filed a lawsuit,» Budrys recounted.
He is convinced that this is not about a legal dispute, but about the use of judicial mechanisms for political purposes.
«This is one of the tools of propaganda. This is the weaponization of law, the use of legal mechanisms to achieve political goals. Such dangerous precedents also discredit the legal mechanisms themselves,» he stated.
According to the head of the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry, Moscow's accusations do not withstand criticism.
«I have seen these accusations. All of them are fabricated and have nothing to do with reality. But we understand that they are important for the reality that Russia creates for its own population and tries to spread further, in the countries of our allies and beyond,» Budrys said.
He added that Lithuania has long faced Russian information operations and has learned to resist them.
«We are a target of propaganda and disinformation warfare. We are also a target of so-called FIMI operations — foreign information manipulation and interference. We have already seen many examples of how Russia engages various actors and organizations in other countries. And we were able to counter such actions before and continue to do so now,» the minister noted.
Furthermore, the head of Lithuanian diplomacy believes that one of the main mistakes would be to try to respond to Russia within the framework of its imposed information agenda.
«But it is important not to fall into Russia's spun propaganda mill: if we start justifying ourselves within its narrative, we only strengthen it. We have already seen how fabricated human rights violations were used as a pretext for the war against Ukraine in 2014,» Budrys stated.
Shraibman: From some, I hear that Minsk has become empty and everyone is waiting for people to return. Another position: everything is normal, if they left — good riddance 99
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