Lithuanian, Polish, Ukrainian ministers urge intl community to give up Russian oil, gas

VILNIUS – The foreign ministers of Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine have called on the international community to impose a full embargo on Russian oil and gas.

In their joint statement, the foreign ministers from the so-called Lublin Triangle countries also called on countries to expand individual sanctions for representatives of Russia's elite and state-owned companies and to remove Russian banks from the Western banking system amid Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

"We urge the international community to introduce a full oil and gas embargo on Russia, expand individual sanctions against Russian elites and state-owned enterprises, as well as completely cut off Russia from the Western banking system," reads the joint statement released by Lithuania's Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday.

"We note the importance of countering Russia’s attempts to circumvent sanctions and the need to introduce restrictive measures against countries that help the Russian Federation to achieve that. We underscore the importance of transferring Russia’s assets frozen abroad to Ukraine," it states.

Signed by Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis and his Ukrainian and Polish counterparts Dmytro Kuleba and Zbigniew Rau, the joint statement also emphasizes the unanimity of the Republic of Lithuania, the Republic of Poland and Ukraine regarding the need to hold Russia accountable for the crime of aggression, for war crimes, crimes against humanity and the crime of genocide committed on the territory of Ukraine.