Russia’s pressure on Ukraine and other Eastern Partnership countries will increase, Lithuanian FM Linas Linkevičius said during informal meeting of EU Ministers for Foreign Affairs.

“The member states express their solidarity with the countries of the Eastern Partnership programme that have chosen the European path and strongly support them. Russia’s pressure on Ukraine and other Eastern Partnership countries will increase, so it is important to keep this item on the EU agenda. We must consider ways to help the countries withstand such pressure,” he noted.

Linkevičius also presented to his counterparts preparations for the upcoming Eastern Partnership Summit on 28 and 29 November in Vilnius, says the statement posted on the website of Lithuania’s presidency of the EU.