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Good morning everyone.

There are a lot of topics this morning, obviously, and let me start from the meeting that we will have with our American colleagues that are visiting the EU today,

and I'm really looking forward to discussing our agenda of cooperation.

Transatlantic agenda of economic security that is something that we have to work on and build right now.

We cannot be in the permanent fixing phase.

We have to have the normal agreement on steel and aluminium and work on it.

We have to implement swiftly what was agreed back in August, and that is what I am really looking into.

And then we have to prioritise our tasks.

The very urgent one is to build the strategy and the right decisions on pushing back China's offensive economic policies,

coercive policies,

absolutely unfair control of exports of rare earths and other goods that are needed for our industries.

If we are not doing this, we will be lost, be it here in Europe, or be it within the transatlantic community. So this is the time.

Right now to push back on China and do it together with American friends.

Second big thing for Lithuania and I will use my opportunity to inform again Council on the developments with our border with Belarus.

We are under combined attack that is coming from Belarus.

One is the hybrid instrumentalisation of meteorological balloons that are used that are sent into our airspace,

violates our airspace. And disrupts the civil aviation. More than 30,000 passengers were affected.

More than 1000 last night, and more than 200 flights were redirected. We cannot function normally. What concerns connectivity. So this is one line of attack.

The other line of attack is seizing our trucks and semi trailers in Belarus and blackmailing us and putting pressure on our economy.

So this combined attack has to be met with a response from the European Union because the European Union is under and its member state is under economic, economic pressure, and that is what the European Union has to do protect its member states,

protect its companies, protect the property of its companies, and the way to do it is to impose more sanctions on Belarusian economy,

on trade, and on the representatives of the regime.

So this will be the call from Lithuania.

The third big block of course that we will discuss that is European economic security policy.

We're looking for the doctrine to come up and for the very exact measures and instruments how we will protect ourselves,

what concerns the competitiveness of ours, and reducing the vulnerabilities.

Of our industries because once again this is the very priority now within the trade policies and within the industrial policies of Europe and Lithuania is one of the countries that is already implementing the best practises and we're looking forward to expand it.

Do you expect I think that we will of course we will discuss where we are, what concerns implementation of our joint statement coming from August, and there are many still things that are uncovered and one of them that I already mentioned,

that is the steel and aluminium and of course the other thing that is very high on the agenda for every member state,

that is the exemptions from the tariff that was agreed.

So we have to fix those small details and Concentrate on the large ones. What concerns exemptions.

Yes, of course we are very interested in an agreement on steel and aluminium.

We have producers that suffer now with the extra extra tariffs.

Second big area for Lithuania, that is the life sciences,

and that is our cooperation with the United States, the largest market in life sciences.

Technology and we see it as one of the fields where we have to build a strategic partnership with the United States.

So we have the strong arguments why it shouldn't be protected with the tariffs on both sides.

Minister,

what's your reaction to talks in Geneva over the weekend we remain consistent on the very principles how the long lasting peace has to be achieved.

First of all, we have to agree on fundamentals.

We have to commit to fundamentals, and those fundamentals are sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence of Ukraine.

And if we put the theft of territory into any agreement, this is the betrayal of international law,

and no one can trust in the future that aggression won't be repeated at the very same place or in any other direction,

be it other smaller countries that are in the neighbourhood of Russia.

First of all, whether they are protected or not. The second big part is accountability.

From what I read, when I see the word amnesty to the war crimes,

this hits the red lamp into many heads and mine too.

So accountability is important for the crime of aggression, for war crimes that were committed within the Ukraine territory,

for abduction of children, for destruction of the property.

And for the abduction of civilians, so everything has to be put back where it belongs.

Territory given back to Ukraine and children returned to their homes.

It's the same with civilians and those that are responsible, they have to be prosecuted.

Only then we can speak about accountability that was implemented, otherwise it is impunity, and we know what impunity brings.

Impunity brings more aggression and with Russia that's the rule that was proven so many times previously.

If there is the progress as the parties are signalling and reporting,

of course we commended that the talks are progressively improving and looking forward to also for Europe to step in in those parts that cannot be discussed without Europe. That is the European security. We know what Russia wants. Russia wants to dismantle.

Russia wants to push out Americans from Europe to review the security.

And we have to be there where it is discussed and especially with our allies and partners.

So as the process is starting, it's good that we once again have the process,

but we cannot forget what is really important and what is really important for today, that's the ceasefire.

Russia has to agree with the unconditional ceasefire as Ukraine did more than 250 or 60 days ago.

Thank you all.