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On 6 June, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania, Kęstutis Budrys, met with Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs Espen Barth Eide in Oslo. The meeting discussed Lithuania's bilateral relations with Norway, the Nordic-Baltic Eight (NB8) cooperation, preparations for the upcoming NATO summit in The Hague, security challenges and threats facing the region, Russia's aggression against Ukraine, support for Ukraine, and other relevant issues.

“Lithuania and Norway share a special bond which contributes to the security and resilience of our country. We greatly appreciate Norway's involvement in ensuring security of our country. Norway has deployed troops to Lithuania, which, together with German and Dutch troops, form the core of the NATO battle group and acts as a significant deterrent in the region. Norway’s role is also unique for Lithuania in securing energy independence and getting rid of Gazprom’s blackmail,” said the Minister.

The Norwegian company Höegh LNG has built the Independence LNG terminal-ship, commissioned by Lithuania. Norway is also one of Lithuania's primary gas suppliers. Last year, as much as 48% of the gas imported through the Klaipėda LNG terminal was of Norwegian origin. In addition, during the energy crisis, Norway played a decisive role in ensuring stable supply to Europe and containing a surge in energy prices.

According to Budrys, as Lithuania and Norway are closely working together in NB8 and NATO, both countries similarly assess the challenges rising in the region and agree to a well-coordinated response to Russia threat. This includes increasing the resilience of critical infrastructure at the bottom of the Baltic Sea and preventing a shadow fleet, which is a major source of funding for Russia's war machine.

Ministers also indicated the strategic importance of the Arctic Ocean for the Baltic Sea region. The processes taking place in the far North are linked to our regional and transatlantic security. It is thus essential to strengthen NATO cooperation in this regard.

The head of Lithuania's diplomacy also noted that Lithuania and Norway are some of the strongest supporters of Ukraine, while the joint Nordic-Baltic military support is one of the largest, amounting to 26 billion euros.

“We will continue to provide political and military support to Ukraine for a comprehensive, just and lasting peace. We need to increase pressure on Russia, firstly, by tightening the existing sanctions and secondly, by introducing new ones that would target Russia’s shadow fleet, energy, finance, and IT sectors,” the Minister said.

According to Budrys, it is necessary to sanction all the tankers of the shadow fleet, to prevent the sale of ships from the EU and NATO member states, to avert the possibility for the vessels of this fleet to obtain insurance, to fight against counterfeiting of insurance, to increase NATO's military presence in the Baltic Sea, as well as to extend the operation of the Alliance "Baltic Sentry". As of now, EU has sanctioned a total of 342 vessels, which constitute approximately 40% of Russia's entire shadow fleet.

The meeting also discussed the strengthening of bilateral economic relations, prospects for cooperation in the fields of the defense industry, innovation, and high technologies.

During the visit, the Lithuanian Minister also met with Norway’s Parliament (Storting) members of Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence.