An agreement in principle reached by EU member countries on the eighth package of sanctions against Russia is rather weak but better than none at all, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said on Wednesday.
“The time for strong packages has passed, and when reading the documents presented, you sometimes get the impression that there are more exceptions than sanctions,” Landsbergis told the Žinių Radijas radio station.
“Still, this is better than nothing, than no package at all because there is further isolation of Russia,” the minister said. “We are moving forward, albeit rather weakly.”
On Tuesday, sources familiar with the talks told LRT that EU member states struck a deal on an eight package of sanctions against Russia.
The new sanctions package includes a price cap on Russian oil, further restrictions on trade with Russia, and personal sanctions on more Russian officials, oligarchs, and propagandists, including those involved in the illegal referendums that led to Moscow’s annexation of occupied parts of Ukraine.
More than 1,200 individuals and over 100 companies and institutions are already subject to such restrictions under previous packages of sanctions.
The eighth package of sanctions is a response to Russia’s annexation of four occupied Ukrainian regions, the Kremlin’s military mobilisation, and its continuing war crimes in Ukraine.
Later on Wednesday, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda said the agreed sanctions were "a step forward".
"We will see how big it will be," he told reporters in Vilnius
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