He warned there would be no desired impact if Lithuania was the sole country using national sanctions against Moscow.
"I believe we should talk about at least regional sanctions, because national sanctions alone would have no effect if it was only Lithuania [imposing them]," Skvernelis told reporters in the Seimas on Tuesday.
"Regional sanctions, let us say, those of the Baltic States, the Nordic region, or Poland. But I hope that the European Community will be able to find solutions, as it has done many times. The sanctions must be prolonged as we see what direct war crimes Russia continues to commit," he added.
In a second reading on Tuesday last week, the Seimas voted in favour of the Government’s motion to extend Lithuania’s current restrictions placed on the citizens of Russia and Belarus by another year. They were set to expire after 2 May 2025.
President Gitanas Nausėda’s chief communication adviser had said that national sanctions would not necessarily work in the overall economic area and might not be needed. Despite that, Frederikas Jansonas noted, they need to be prepared as Europe is struggling to find unanimity on the measures to be taken against Moscow which continues its aggression in Ukraine.