Lithuanian prime minister reaffirms support for Ukraine in call with Zelenskyy

Lithuanian Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevičius reaffirmed his country’s continued support for Ukraine during a phone call with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Tuesday, LRT reported, citing the government chancellery.

The leaders discussed Ukraine’s military and humanitarian needs, including air defence, as well as tightening sanctions on Russia. They also discussed possible Lithuanian assistance to Ukrainians ahead of a difficult winter, as Russia expands attacks on civilian and critical infrastructure.

Sinkevičius said Lithuania would support Ukraine in pursuing a sustainable and just peace and maintained that only Ukraine could decide its future. He said Russia’s aggression showed it was seeking further escalation rather than peace, making continued pressure, including sanctions, necessary.

The prime minister also said Russia was attacking Ukraine’s grain export infrastructure and trading grain stolen from occupied territories, while using European ports to export its own grain. Baltic states are seeking to prevent this transit, he said.

“Russia cannot use European port and railway infrastructure, so we are proposing solutions at EU level,” Sinkevičius said. He added that Lithuania was seeking both to ban the transit and to add specific Russian agricultural-sector oligarchs who support the war to the sanctions list.

The call also covered Ukraine’s European integration. Sinkevičius said Lithuania would actively build support for Ukraine’s EU membership bid and progress in the process when it takes over the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union in the first half of next year.