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On 20 May in Brussels, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania, Kęstutis Budrys, participated in the Foreign Affairs Council of the European Union.

In a discussion with Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, the Minister stressed the importance of a stronger and more united European response and called for rejecting Russia's demands for Ukraine's disarmament, neutrality, territorial concessions, or new elections. The Minister also highlighted the importance of protecting the principles of international law, underlining the significance of the Seimas (Parliament) resolution of 8 May on Ukraine's territorial integrity.

Lithuania's head of diplomacy stressed the need to increase the pressure on Russia to agree to an unconditional ceasefire and, if Russia continues to ignore calls for a ceasefire, to impose strong sanctions. In response to last week's incident with the tanker 'Jaguar' in Estonia, Minister Budrys called for further tightening of sanctions against Russia's "shadow fleet" and for beginning to immediately work on an ambitious 18th package of sanctions targeting Russia's financial and energy sectors.

“We must strengthen Ukraine’s positions maximally – increase the EU’s support for the Ukrainian army, make decisions on the use of frozen Russian assets for Ukraine’s needs, establish a Special Tribunal as soon as possible, ensuring that as many countries as possible contribute to ensuring Russia’s accountability,” the Minister said.

The Minister reminded that security guarantees for Ukraine were necessary to maintain a ceasefire and a possible peace agreement, and most reliable guarantees remain Ukraine's membership in NATO and the EU. Underlining that Ukraine’s European perspective was not only a political objective, but also a long-term strategic investment in European security, the Minister called for accelerating Ukraine’s EU accession process, ensuring EU membership by 1 January 2030 at the latest.

The Minister welcomed the European Commission's RePowerEU plan and encouraged to phase out  Russian energy, underlining that Lithuania was the first EU member state to completely stop energy imports from Russia in April 2022.