Lithuania urges EU to sanction Russian grain and its exporters

In a Facebook post on Oct. 8, Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevicius announced that Lithuania will push the EU to both prohibit Russian grain from crossing the union and sanction individual Russian agricultural oligarchs who back the war. He highlighted that Russia continues to use European ports, especially in the Baltic states, to export grain even as its blockade of the Black Sea slashes Ukraine’s food export revenues and threatens markets in the Middle East and North Africa.

The Prime Minister noted that current EU policy exempts food from sanctions, a stance defended by sanctions envoy David O'Sullivan, who said agricultural goods have limited impact on the war machine. Sinkevicius also said Lithuania has already imposed stricter controls on grain origins to block any Ukrainian grain that might be stolen or blended with Russian supplies from moving through the country. He warned that allowing Russian grain to flow through EU infrastructure would effectively fund the Russian war effort.