Lithuania ready to push for decision to ban Russian oil during its EU presidency, minister says
Lithuanian Energy Minister Žygimantas Vaičiūnas stated this in an interview with Ukrinform.
Commenting on the European Union’s introduction of the 20th package of sanctions against Russia, the Lithuanian official noted that the EU is constantly moving forward, implementing an important, systematic approach that is constantly being refined.
“In the longer-term future, we need to ensure that Europe will not be importing oil from Russia. These key decisions have been made for the gas sector during quite a short period of time… The European Commission is now preparing the draft regulation on which Lithuania is ready to work quite intensively. We will see it before our presidency or during our presidency, starting January 1, 2027. We are prepared to ensure the European decision to stop the import of Russian oil,” the minister stated.
He also recalled that Lithuania was the first EU country to halt gas imports in 2022, immediately after the start of the war in Ukraine.
As reported by Ukrinform, on April 23, the Council of the European Union adopted the 20th package of restrictive measures, which introduces a comprehensive list of 36 sanction items covering both the upstream and downstream segments of the Russian energy sector, including oil exploration, production, refining, and transportation. The package is strategically aimed at new players who have recently increased their share in export markets.
