Arrays of the Russian anti-aircraft defense were activated today in the city of Armiansk, on its Ukrainian peninsula – annexed by Russia since 2014 Crimeareports the TASS news agency, citing its mayor.

Lithuania’s president calls on the EU to step up pressure on Russia

In the meantime, Mr Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausenda said on Thursday that the European Union should adjust the sanctions it imposed on Russia because of war in Ukraine and to increase the pressure it exerts on Moscow.

Speaking to reporters after a meeting with his Romanian counterpart Klaus Iohannis in Vilnius, Mr Nausenda pointed out that in some cases European sanctions hit member states more than their target, citing in particular the results of using of the Russian energy company Gazprom, which it described as good despite the reduction in the amount of gas it made available, as reported by the German Agency and relayed by the Athens News Agency.

The decrease in sales did not affect it because the price of gas increased, the president of the small Baltic country explained. This means, he added, that the European Commission must study the effects of the sanctions and adjust them.

Vilnius has been in favor of more punitive measures from the start, according to Mr Nauceda, who wants the EU to approve the ninth set of sanctions as soon as possible, a “decisive step forward”. That package should include further restrictions on the Russian arms industry, Russian banks and Rosatom, Russia’s state-run atomic energy company, according to Mr Nausenda.