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On 13 July, the Minister-designate of Foreign Affairs, Kęstutis Budrys, participates in the Foreign Affairs Council of the European Union in Brussels. According to the head of Lithuania's diplomacy, the last meeting of EU foreign affairs ministers before the summer recess takes place today, and there is still unfinished business on the desks. This means that the necessary decisions will be delayed till autumn.

“We are stuck on decisions. Lithuania has called for sanctioning major Russian energy companies like Rosatom and Lukoil, and finally for stopping to fund the Russian war machine. [...] We see that with each new package of sanctions, the economic interests of more member states become increasingly apparent, and this is a dangerous trend," said the head of Lithuanian diplomacy.

Ahead of the meeting, Budrys also told journalists that Ukraine's EU membership talks should be accelerated.

"There were no objective obstacles to opening all the negotiating clusters already this July. However, tomorrow we will open only one—the sixth negotiating cluster—while the opening of the others is postponed until autumn. Such delays are highly counterproductive and slow down the negotiations," the Foreign Minister said.

As another unfinished business, Budrys identified the European Peace Facility, within which €6.6 billion has been frozen since 2023. The Minister emphasized the need to strengthen Ukraine's energy resilience.

“Russia continues to target Ukraine’s energy sector. Therefore, it is the duty of all member states to provide energy support, as Lithuania is doing through generators, transformers and other necessary equipment," said Budrys.

EU foreign affairs ministers will also discuss the decision of the International Olympic Committee to lift its suspension on Russia and Belarus, paving the way for their athletes and teams to compete at the Olympics.

“Neutrality is being confused with the normalization of aggression, and it cannot be the case. Aggressors have no place in international events, be they cultural or sporting. Lithuania will call on the EU to agree that Russia and Belarus should have no place in sports competitions in Europe, and that member states will not hold competitions with the presence of these two countries. It is important to maintain international isolation against states that commit aggression, and it is directly linked to the issue of accountability", said Budrys.

For the Minister's full statement, please click here.