Lithuanian Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevičius on Monday called US President Donald Trump’s decision to temporarily ease sanctions on Russian diesel supplies “shameful and dishonourable”, while Lithuania’s presidential office urged a cautious approach to broader US policy changes affecting European security.
“I think it is a shameful, dishonourable act. I am not sure whether this is actually happening or whether these are just political statements. I have not seen a written agreement,” Sinkevičius told Sky News at the Warsaw Security Forum. “I think this will become clear in the coming week.”
Trump said Friday that he had spoken with Russian President Vladimir Putin and reached an agreement for Russia to supply large quantities of diesel to global markets.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the move, prompting Trump on Saturday to call on Ukraine to choose a new leader.
On Sunday, Trump said on his Truth Social platform that Russia and Ukraine had agreed to stop their devastating long-range strikes on power plants and oil refineries.
Zelensky said the Kremlin was unwilling to agree to a ceasefire and reported that Russia had attacked six energy facilities on Monday, after Trump’s announcement.
Earlier Monday, Sinkevičius said Lithuania’s confidence in the United States remained intact and welcomed initiatives aimed at achieving peace in Ukraine.
President’s office urges caution over US military presence
Presidential chief foreign policy adviser Asta Skaisgirytė said Tuesday that Lithuania should remain calm and focus on strategic priorities as Washington reviews its military presence in Europe.
“The presence of US troops in Lithuania is very important to us, strategically important,” she told the radio Žinių radijas. With troop deployments being reorganised, she said, Lithuania needed to avoid emotional reactions and maintain a broader strategic perspective.
Skaisgirytė declined to comment directly on Sinkevičius’ criticism of the diesel sanctions decision. President Gitanas Nausėda said Monday that the move was linked to the approaching US midterm elections, created conditions for reducing Russia’s isolation and represented “a bad day”.
The United States is reviewing its troop presence in Europe. Lithuanian officials have said Washington is resuming troop rotations in Lithuania after a several-month pause, with two US battalions expected to arrive in late October.
Despite doubts expressed by some politicians about whether the rotations would resume, Skaisgirytė said she had no doubts and urged critics to exercise “strategic patience”.
Trump intimated in early October that the United States would consider establishing a permanent military base in Lithuania. Skaisgirytė said she believed the idea was feasible and that Lithuanian officials were discussing it regularly with their US counterparts.
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