{"id":515390,"date":"2026-02-06T10:48:19","date_gmt":"2026-02-06T07:48:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/reform.news\/?p=515390"},"modified":"2026-02-06T12:06:33","modified_gmt":"2026-02-06T09:06:33","slug":"lithuanian-liberal-leader-criticizes-claim-that-sanctions-on-belarus-benefit-the-kremlin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/lithuanian-liberal-leader-criticizes-claim-that-sanctions-on-belarus-benefit-the-kremlin","title":{"rendered":"Lithuanian Liberal Leader Criticizes Claim That Sanctions on Belarus Benefit the Kremlin"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"fb-root\"><\/div>\n<p>Leader of Lithuania\u2019s Liberal Movement <b>Viktorija \u010cmilyt\u0117-Nielsen<\/b> has accused part of the ruling elite of manipulating public opinion. In her view, they are spreading false information that sanctions imposed on Belarus benefit Russia, Radio Znad Wilii <a href=\"https:\/\/zw.lt\/wiadomosc\/kategorie\/litwa\/cmilyte-nielsen-sankcje-na-bialorus-nie-sa-korzystne-dla-kremla\/\">reported<\/a> citing BNS.<\/p>\n<p>In an interview with the \u017dinios radio station, \u010cmilyt\u0117-Nielsen said that discussions about a possible resumption of relations between Lithuania and Belarus are taking place within government circles and among certain politicians from the ruling coalition, calling such an approach mistaken.<\/p>\n<p><i>\u201cThese reflections are justified in a manipulative way. An example is a statement by Mindaugas Sinkevi\u010dius, who suggests that sanctions on fertilizers and fertilizer transit benefit Russia. This is a complete manipulation. He replaces reality with an appearance and paves the way for a change in Lithuania\u2019s strategic course,\u201d<\/i> the liberal leader said.<\/p>\n<p>Earlier this week, <b>Mindaugas Sinkevi\u010dius<\/b> met in Vilnius with former Belarusian political prisoner <b>Maria Kalesnikava<\/b>. After the meeting, he wrote on Facebook that Kalesnikava had, among other things, called for restoring passenger rail service between Minsk and Vilnius and increasing the number of bus routes. Sinkevi\u010dius also noted the need to clearly define Lithuania\u2019s policy goals toward Belarus in the short, medium, and long term.<\/p>\n<p>The debate around sanctions intensified after U.S. President <b>Donald Trump<\/b>\u2019s special envoy <b>John Coale<\/b> reached an agreement with the Belarusian authorities in mid-December on the release of some political prisoners and the lifting of sanctions on Belarusian potash fertilizers. After that, speculation began to circulate in Lithuania about possible pressure from Washington on Vilnius to resume fertilizer transit through the port of Klaip\u0117da.<\/p>\n<p>Lithuanian Foreign Minister <b>K\u0119stutis Budrys<\/b> said that the country\u2019s position toward Belarus remains among the toughest in Europe. He stressed that Lithuania\u2019s approach to extending and tightening sanctions against Minsk remains unchanged. A similarly firm stance has also been voiced by Lithuanian President <b>Gitanas Naus\u0117da<\/b>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Leader of Lithuania\u2019s Liberal Movement Viktorija \u010cmilyt\u0117-Nielsen has accused part of the ruling elite of manipulating public opinion. In her view, they are spreading false information that sanctions imposed on Belarus benefit Russia, Radio Znad Wilii reported citing BNS. In an interview with the \u017dinios radio station, \u010cmilyt\u0117-Nielsen said that discussions about a possible resumption [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":119,"featured_media":515389,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sharing_image":{"poster":"https:\/\/reform.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/6985af1e56931.jpg","width":1200,"height":630,"template":"691142dd","mode":"auto"},"_sharing_image_fieldset":{"dTVKfmI95PYT":"Lithuanian Liberal Leader Criticizes Claim That Sanctions on Belarus Benefit the Kremlin"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[142339,142338],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-515390","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-main","category-news"],"wps_subtitle":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/515390","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/119"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=515390"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/515390\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/515389"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=515390"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=515390"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=515390"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}