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Anti-Russian sanctions

Lithuania’s foreign minister calls for preservation of anti-Russian sanctions

"If we do not continue exerting pressure, …(for Russia) it will be a signal for action," Linas Linkevicius said

© EPA/STEPHANIE LECOCQ

LONDON, May 29. /TASS/. Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius said on Thursday it was necessary to maintain pressure on Russia - in the form of sanctions and diplomatic isolation - because of the situation in Ukraine.

"If we do not continue exerting pressure, …(for Russia) it will be a signal for action," he told Reuters. He said that if Russia "didn’t stop to lend support (to self-defence forces), it will be impossible "to talk about progress, about changes in policy."

Lithuania’s top diplomat virtually repeated the statement by chief of NATO forces in Europe General Philip Breedlove who asserted that Russia continued to render every assistance to people’s militias in eastern Ukraine, alleging, in particular, that it had deployed large quantities of weapons there. "We are concerned about this concentration of troops in such quantities," Linkevicius said.

Meanwhile, the Kremlin dismissed as unfounded the statements of NATO officials about Russian weapons allegedly deployed in eastern Ukraine. "This statement, just like many other similar statement, is based on unsubstantiated accusations," Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said a few days ago, commenting on the issue.

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Sanctions vs. Russia

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