Lithuanian President: easing sanctions against Russia in exchange for restoring the grain deal is unacceptable

The President of Lithuania, Gitanas Nausėda, claims that easing sanctions against Russia in exchange for the resumption of the grain deal is unacceptable.

This was reported by LRT.

Gitanas Nausėda said that Lithuania supports the position that sanctions should not be eased for either Russia or Belarus, and that they should remain the same for the latter as for Moscow.

"We believe that it is absolutely wrong to ease sanctions against dictators. This is the position of all authorities, regardless of their level," the country's leader said.

According to LRT, earlier this week, a European Union diplomat, who wished to remain anonymous, said that some countries are ready to consider Russia's proposal and ease sanctions to extend the Ukrainian grain export deal. This has delayed the introduction of new sanctions.

"The approach of some politicians is associated with the idea of exceptions... which is actually wrong: we are tightening sanctions with one hand and opening the door with the other," Gitanas Nausėda said.

As a reminder, Moscow threatened to withdraw from the grain deal if certain conditions are not met. In particular, the Russian side demanded to unblock the foreign assets and accounts of Russian food and fertilizer companies, as well as to resume the supply of agricultural machinery, spare parts and service. In addition, Russia demanded the resumption of the Togliatti-Odesa ammonia pipeline and the reconnection of Rosselkhozbank to the SWIFT system.

According to the UN proposal, reconnecting Rosselkhozbank to the SWIFT system could be done in exchange for the continuation of the grain deal. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres sent a letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin with new ideas for preserving the grain deal, including reconnecting Rosselkhozbank to the SWIFT system. However, this proposal was ignored.