MOSCOW, June 23. /ITAR-TASS/. Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite should focus on protecting rights of ethnic minorities in her own country rather than voicing pretended concern about their plight in other countries, a high-ranking source in the Russian Foreign Ministry told ITAR-TASS on Monday, June 23.

“Judging from Grybauskaite’s remarks, she has not lost the Soviet habit of putting up labels without looking into the essence of the matter,” he said.

“Instead of stating her pretended concern about the fate of ethnic groups in other countries, the president of Lithuania should be focusing on performing her direct obligations to ensure and protect the rights of people of different ethnic backgrounds in her own country,” the source said.

According to Grybauskaite, Russia “is seeking to spread its influence to former Soviet countries and particularly restore economic dependence of the Baltic states on Russian fuel” using the seizure of other countries’ territories and the nationalities issue as a pretext.

The Lithuanian president told the German online magazine FOCUS that not only Ukraine but also Poland and the Baltic states were feeling aggression from Russia, with military exercises on the border between Lithuania and with the Kaliningrad region and minor provocations taking place virtually every week.