Lithuania to extend national sanctions against Russia and Belarus for a year
The Lithuanian government on Wednesday, January 29, approved the initiative of the country's Foreign Ministry to extend national sanctions against citizens of Russia and Belarus until May 2, 2026.
"The established set of restrictions should be assessed as optimal and coordinated. Against the background of existing threats, these measures are necessary and appropriate," TASS quoted the document as saying.
As a result of the restrictions, the processes of considering requests of Russians and Belarusians for temporary residence permits in Lithuania have been suspended. In addition, Russian citizens are forbidden to buy real estate in the country, bring cash Ukrainian hryvnias, as well as to register an electronic resident status.
The EU has adopted 15 packages of sanctions against Russia since 2022 and is now preparing the 16th package. Earlier in the day, Politico revealed that the new package of anti-Russian sanctions of the European Union (EU) will not include a complete ban on imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Russia. It was specified that the restrictions will affect only terminals for receiving the resource, not connected to the common gas distribution system of the EU.
On January 27, the head of EU diplomacy Kaja Kallas officially confirmed the extension of anti-Russian sanctions for six months.
For his part, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that there were no innovations in the EU's decision to extend anti-Russian sanctions for six months. He also called the sanctions against Russia illegal.
The West has increased sanctions pressure on the Russian Federation against the background of the special operation to protect the population of Donbass. The decision to launch the operation was taken by the Russian president amid an aggravation of the situation in the region due to Ukrainian shelling.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
