VILNIUS 's Lithuania's ambassador to Russia was called to the carpet for an earlier Foreign Ministry statement that expressed concern for Georgia in its deteriorating row with Moscow.
Rimantas Sidlauskas was summoned to Smolensky Square in Moscow and read a statement to the effect that Lithuania's Foreign Ministry had displayed "unacceptable interference" in Russian-Georgian relations . Relations between the two countries have worsened over recent weeks due to a gas pipeline explosion and peacekeeper operations in South Ossetia, part of Georgian territory that is loosely controlled by Russia.
Since joining the EU in 2004, Lithuania has been championing western integration with other former republics of the Soviet Union.
