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On 14 April, Lithuania's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Kęstutis Budrys, attended the European Union's Foreign Affairs Council in Luxembourg. During the discussion on Ukraine, the Minister stressed that the EU's priorities are now obvious: focused diplomatic efforts in support of Ukraine and further increasing pressure on Russia. Ukraine's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Andrii Sybiha, joined the debate in Luxembourg remotely.

“With missile strikes like yesterday Russia demonstrates its unwillingness to seek peace. Europe must show very clearly through our diplomatic actions, military and other support for Ukraine, with sanctions, and increased pressure on the aggressor that we are on the side of attacked Ukraine,” said the head of Lithuania’s diplomacy.

According to Budrys, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, whom he met two weeks ago during his visit to Kyiv, also called on the international community to speak out about Russia's brutal killing of civilians, which proves that Russia wants war.

The Minister stressed the need to include in the 17th package those sanctions that were left out of the 16th package, such as the liquefied natural gas sector, Rosatom, shadow fleet, the IT and banking sectors, as well as to expand targeted sanctions against individuals.

The EU Foreign Ministers discussed enhanced EU military support covering Ukraine’s most urgent defence needs – the air defence capability enhancement, long-range missiles, ammunition, drones, and support for Ukraine’s defence industry development.

When discussing security guarantees, the Minister underlined that Lithuania supports the relocation to Ukraine of the EU Military Assistance Mission in support of Ukraine (EUMAM Ukraine) and would join the "coalition of the willing".

“Lithuania will participate in both formats and encourage others to join. This is important for the EU, not only in symbolic terms but also in practical terms, in terms of strengthening European security. We need to keep the Ukrainian army strong also after the peace agreement is reached,” said Budrys.

The Minister also stressed that Ukraine’s future is in Europe. Therefore, it is necessary to accelerate the EU's accession process by clearly setting the final date of Ukraine's membership for 1 January 2030.

Foreign Ministers also discussed the situation in the Middle East, cooperation between the EU and the African Union, the EU dialogue with the Western Balkan countries, Armenia-Azerbaijan relations, and the situation in Georgia.

At the request of the President of Georgia, Salome Zourabichvili, Budrys spoke on behalf of the three Baltic states about the continued repression, eroding democracy and civil liberties in the country. The Minister called for increasing pressure and sanctioning those responsible for crackdowns on peaceful protesters.