"To step on the same rake and get the same tinder". Lithuanian Foreign Minister rejects dialog with Russia

Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys opposed the resumption of dialogue with Russia, but at the same time stated the need to increase pressure on the aggressor state. His words are quoted by the broadcaster LRT.

"If someone wants to step on the same rake again and get the same tire, I don't see any point in it. I do not expect any other result. If someone imagines the same kind of conversations that were held before the full-scale invasion in 2022, when we saw that they led to nothing, then the result will be the same and perhaps even worse now," Budris said, commenting on proposals by European leaders to resume a dialogue with Moscow.

In his opinion, this will create an illusion for Russia that it can achieve something, or for Europe that it can achieve something.

The Lithuanian Foreign Minister said that it is necessary not to talk, but to consistently increase pressure on Russia, using the levers of influence available to the European Union.

"If someone wants to talk, we must have tools of force. These tools are in the hands of Europe – the 20th package of sanctions, full responsibility of the Russian political leadership for the crimes committed," the head of Lithuanian diplomacy added.

He emphasized that "calling, traveling, walking, begging – I have very serious doubts about this."

"I think it's a bad move," Budris said, adding that it is necessary to take pressure measures and put the Russian dictator in jail rather than talk Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table so that he would agree to a ceasefire.

• On December 19, 2025, Macron said that Europeans will have to find a way to resume a dialog with Russia directly. He believes that it is useful to talk to Putin again.
• On December 21, Zelenskyy confirmed that Macron had discussed direct dialogue with Russia if America failed to stop the occupiers. But the president believes that we need to fight for the participation of the United States in the peaceful dialog.