Lithuania supports EU proposal to ban entry for Russian soldiers

Lithuania backs an EU proposal to ban Russian soldiers who have fought in Ukraine from entering the bloc, Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys said ahead of a meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council in Luxembourg on Monday.

“We must reduce the number of visas issued, and even more so, completely refuse entry to those who have just participated in massacres in Ukraine,” Budrys told LRT.

A ban on Russian soldiers entering EU countries would be part of a new package of sanctions against Moscow over its war in Ukraine. According to Budrys, consensus among member states on the measure has not yet been reached.

“Lithuania fully supports it, and we have already been involved in the work of including such individuals in the Schengen system. This is also technical work—we need to have data on all these people because we need to understand that those who fall into the non-admission lists can appeal such decisions,” he explained.

Lithuania has currently included nearly 900 Russian citizens who participated in direct hostilities against Ukraine in Schengen blacklists. They are banned from entering Lithuania for ten years and the Schengen area for five, though the latter can be extended as the deadline approaches.

Earlier in June, a group of European countries, including Lithuania, urged the EU to reduce opportunities for Russians to holiday on the continent. The number of visas issued to Russians dropped sharply from over four million before the war to around half a million in 2024. However, in 2025, more than 470,000 tourist Schengen visas were issued to Russian citizens, many of them multiple-entry.

According to the minister, maintaining isolation for Russia as a state, its forces, and its cultural performers is becoming increasingly difficult.