Lithuania cuts off Russian gas imports, urges EU to do same

By LIUDAS DAPKUS
Associated Press

VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) — Lithuania says it has cut itself off entirely of gas imports from Russia, apparently becoming the first of the European Union’s 27 nations using Russian gas to break its energy dependence upon Moscow. The country’s energy minister says “Lithuania has completely abandoned Russian gas.” He says the Baltic nation is “seeking full energy independence from Russian gas, in response to Russia’s energy blackmail in Europe and the war in Ukraine.” He said the measure took effect in the beginning of April.  Lithuania managed reduce imports of Russian gas to zero on Saturday, a move seen a milestone in achieving energy independence in the former Soviet republic of 2.8 million.