Lithuanian president says US lifting Belarus sanctions does not affect EU policy

The United States’ decision to lift sanctions on two Belarusian banks, the Finance Ministry, and the state-owned potash company Belaruskali does not signal a shift in the European Union’s approach, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda said Thursday in Brussels.

Speaking to journalists, Nausėda emphasised that while the US may pursue its own policy toward Russia and Belarus, the EU’s stance remains firm. “The European Union’s policy is very clear—it is based on the principle that both states, Russia and its close ally Belarus, are responsible for what is happening in Ukraine,” he said. “The war continues, taking on increasingly brutal forms. For this reason, sanctions are applied—perhaps not on a perfectly mirrored basis, but according to a certain coordination principle.”

Nausėda noted that the EU recently extended its sanctions against Belarus for another 12 months, with no political will to reconsider them during that period. “The lifting of US sanctions is one matter, while the EU’s sanctions policy is an entirely different path,” he stated.

The head of Lithuania’s parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee, Remigijus Motuzas, said each country has sovereign foreign policy goals, making it premature to assess the US move without knowing its full objectives. “We hear this news and understand that every state has its own foreign policy and specific goals,” he told the ELTA news agency. “Today, we cannot evaluate the US position without knowing exactly what aims are being pursued.”

Motuzas reaffirmed that Lithuania would maintain its firm stance on sanctions against Minsk. “Lithuania actively participated in approving and extending these sanctions in EU institutions,” he said, adding that the Seimas (parliament) would continue discussing restrictive measures in its spring session.

Conservative MP Žygimantas Pavilionis described the US decision as a bilateral step with no direct impact on Lithuania, which aligns its sanctions policy with the EU. “This is a bilateral US-Belarus track, as the Americans say,” he told ELTA. When asked if the US had pressured Lithuania to review its Belarus sanctions, Pavilionis denied it, calling the move “purely a bilateral American track” tied to US-Belarus negotiations.