Lithuanian conservatives table resolution for additional sanctions on Russia

VILNIUS - Lithuania's conservative Homeland Union–Lithuanian Christian Democrats (HU-LCD) proposed on Monday that the Seimas pass a resolution calling for additional sanctions on Russia after it seized three Ukrainian Navy ships on Sunday. 

The resolution invites the Seimas to call on EU and NATO member states, as well as on the OSCE, the Council of Europe and the United Nations, to make every effort to force Russia to end the militarization of the Sea of Azov. 

The three Ukrainian ships came under fire by Russia when they were crossing the Kerch Strait on their way to the port of Mariupol, with Russia saying the ships illegally entered its territorial waters. The ships were eventually seized.

The resolution calls for imposing additional sanctions on people responsible for the incident.  

The draft resolution was registered by Gabrielius Landsbergis, the opposition party's leader, along with his fellow conservative MPs Radvile Morkunaite-Mikuleniene and Andrius Kubilius.

"There are also alarming signals that there might be plans to renew the nuclear weapon storage infrastructure in Russia-annexed Crimea, which means that preparations could be underway for deploying nuclear weapons in the illegally annexed territory of Ukraine," Landsbergis was quoted as saying in a press release.

The Lithuanian Foreign Ministry earlier in the day urged Russia to release the three Ukrainian vessels and end its aggressive actions against Ukraine.

Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite said Russia "is waging a forthright and aggressive war against Ukraine and continuous cynically violating international agreements and its own commitments".