Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda has decided not to attend a meeting with his Estonian and Latvian counterparts due to a failure to agree on a joint boycott of Belarusian nuclear energy.
"The energy or economy ministers have failed to reach trilateral agreement on the updated methodology on the purchase of electricity from third countries," Antanas Bubnelis, the president’s spokesman, told BNS.
Read more: Latvia’s refusal to back Lithuania may hinder Baltic energy link with Europe, PM says
Nausėda believes the negotiations on a joint boycott of Belarusian nuclear energy should be finished before holding a top-level meeting, according to Bubnelis.
Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid and Latvian leader Egils Levits plan to meet on the Estonian island of Sarema on Thursday and discuss EU, regional security, environmental and other issues.
The Estonian presidential office said Nausėda "made a last-minute decision to stay home due to internal matters".
Lithuania has been pushing for a joint Baltic boycott of Belarusian nuclear energy. However, Latvia has so far refused to back Vilnius' position.
The Baltic countries have agreed on a joint resolution, which would see Riga and Tallinn support Lithuania's boycott of Belarusian nuclear energy, but would not see the two Baltic countries committ to a boycott.
Vilnius considers the Belarusian nuclear plant, which is being built some 50 kilometres from the Lithuanian capital, unsafe and a tool for the Kremlin to pressure Minsk and the Baltics.
The Latvian government says it will switch to electricity trade with Russia for technical and economic reasons once Lithuania halts power imports from Belarus. This may open up access for electricity from Astravyets NPP to the common Baltic market via Russia.
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