Lithuanian President: EU must strike at Russia’s “shadow fleet” and the Kremlin’s entire energy sector

Gitanas Nauseda called for the maximum expansion of sanctions against Russian banks, energy companies and ships that circumvent restrictions.

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda called for new sanctions against Russian banks, the energy sector and ships of the “shadow fleet” that help the Kremlin circumvent existing restrictions. He заявив stated this in an interview with the German newspaper Bild.

“We always demand the maximum,” Nauseda said, commenting on Lithuania’s approach to sanctions against Russia.

In particular, the Lithuanian president proposed completely disconnecting all Russian banks that still remain in the SWIFT system.

In addition, he called for including all ships that are part of the Russian “shadow fleet” in the sanctions list. It is these old and often uninsured tankers that are used for illegal transportation of Russian oil to circumvent Western sanctions.

Nauseda also stressed the need to expand restrictions on Russian energy companies, which are key donors to the state budget of the aggressor country. Among them, he mentioned Nord Stream, Rosatom, Gazprom and Lukoil.

“Otherwise, they will consider us weak and believe that Europe is not ready to make bold decisions,” Nauseda stressed.

He also criticized the sanctions already in place, noting that they were “not decisive enough” and that Russia was successfully circumventing some of them with the help of third countries.

“That is why the Russian economy, although not in the best condition, is still functioning relatively well under the current circumstances,” the Lithuanian leader noted.

Nauseda also criticized Western leaders, who, he said, had failed to fulfill their promises to tighten sanctions against Russia after the start of full-scale aggression.

Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for action against the “shadow fleet”.