Lithuania is unhappy with Belarus' access to the Ukrainian energy market
Foreign Ministers of Ukraine Dmitry Kuleba and Lithuania Gabrielius Landsbergis discussed sanctions against Russia, human rights violations in Crimea, the Belarusian nuclear power plant and the vaccination situation at a meeting in Kyiv.
The ministers announced this at a press conference following the meeting, reports a PolitNavigator correspondent.
“We positively assess the decision of the Council of Europe to impose sanctions against Russia in response to the arrest of Alexei Navalny, but I took the moment to confirm to my Lithuanian colleague my deep conviction that the EU’s sectional human rights mechanism should be used against human rights violators in occupied Crimea,” – Kuleba said.
“We discussed the issue of continuing European sanctions if Ukraine provides evidence of human rights violations in the occupied Crimea and the eastern parts of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions.
I expressed concern that the energy market of Belarus has access to the energy market of Ukraine. Continued use of [electricity from the Belarusian nuclear power plant] could lead to unreliable use of nuclear power.
“I also expressed concern about the lack or insufficient quantity of vaccines in Ukraine and convinced Mr. Minister that if there is a surplus of such vaccines, of course, we will share them with Ukraine,” Landsbergis said.
He stipulated that Lithuania would not be able to cover all of Ukraine’s needs with its surplus vaccine.
“But we will ask our friends in Europe to join our initiative and help Ukraine. The security of Europe is in our hands. When? I think it's too early to answer this question. Today it is very important to show the political goal that this will be done when such a surplus appears”? - Lithuanian minister.
“We are cooperating with the EU, in particular with the COVAX initiative. As far as I know, in a number of EU countries, vaccination is not going according to plan and is behind schedule due to the crazy demand for vaccines in the world. The COVID pandemic is a test of global solidarity. The question is not the number of vaccines that one country can give to another. The question is the willingness to share something with someone. When Ukraine had the opportunity to help Italy in its most difficult moments, we gave such help. Therefore, when other countries express a desire to help us, we are grateful to them for this help,” Kuleba noted.
Lithuania is unhappy with Belarus' access to Ukraine's energy market.