Lithuania opposes proposals to restart high-level dialogue between the European Union and Russia, saying the conditions for resuming contacts have not been met.
Nerijus Aleksiejūnas, Lithuania’s ambassador to the EU, told the radio Žinių Radijas Tuesday that the bloc agreed on specific conditions for re-engaging with Moscow at the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but “those conditions are far from being met”.
“There are conditions we agreed on for when contacts could be resumed. For now, we see no argument suggesting that anything has changed on Russia’s side,” Aleksiejūnas argued.
He added that because the commitment was agreed to unanimously, any decision to change the policy would also require unanimous approval.
The ambassador was responding to remarks by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who said “the time has come” for the EU to resume talks with Russia. Meloni suggested that a special envoy could be appointed to discuss Ukraine and expressed agreement with French President Emmanuel Macron, who in December said it would be “useful” for Europe to re-engage with Russian President Vladimir Putin over the war.
Aleksiejūnas said the EU already has channels allowing it to remain informed about peace negotiations.
“I would not entirely agree that the EU is not at the negotiating table. Perhaps not at the closest gathering point, but we are nearby and we are being informed,” he said.
An EU spokeswoman said Monday that conditions were not yet ripe for talks with Putin over the conflict in Ukraine.
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