Nauseda criticised Mertz's behaviour

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda has criticised German Chancellor Friedrich Merz for failing to fulfil his joint promise with the leaders of France and the UK to impose tough sanctions against Russia if Moscow refuses to hold a ceasefire with Ukraine. He said this in an interview with the Bild publication.

According to Nauseda, unrestrained commitments damage not only the reputation of the European Union, but also undermine the credibility of Western politics in general.

This affects not only the credibility of the sanctions, but also our entire policy towards Russia and support for Ukraine," he said.

The Lithuanian leader emphasised that since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the West has failed to achieve the necessary effect with sanctions, as they have not been tough enough and have been actively circumvented with the help of third countries.

The Russian economy, despite the sanctions, is functioning relatively stably - also because of the West's weak decisions, he added.

Nauseda called for the 18th sanctions package to be truly powerful: he said it should be like a "Molotov cocktail" and include energy companies that finance the Russian budget - such as Gazprom, Lukoil, Rosatom and the operators of Nord Stream.

If we do not exclude the remaining Russian banks from SWIFT and do not block the shadow fleet, we will be perceived as weak and indecisive," the Lithuanian president said.

Earlier, during a visit to Kiev in May, the leaders of Germany, France and Britain gave Moscow until 12 May to agree to a 30-day ceasefire. Otherwise, they promised to impose new sanctions. However, Russia ignored the demand, and tough measures from Berlin have yet to follow.