Lithuanian FM Linas Linkevicius reassured that bringing some Eastern Partnership states like Ukraine, but also Moldova and Georgia, closer to the European Union will not mean that other countries as Azerbaijan, Armenia and Belarus will drift away.

“We should be flexible and allow them to comply with self-differentiation, and our task is to implement the principle more for more,” he said in an interview with vieuws.eu.

Lithuanian FM also said he would like to try to convince Russia that it is not a zero-sum game. He is convinced that by preserving traditionally good relations with Russia, these states would add something else in the EU market, and European choice of the countries does not mean that it will be detrimental for the region.

Speaking about Ukraine, he argued that “Ukraine belongs to Europe, not just geographically” and that a European political project without Ukraine would be less impressive.

“Vilnius is an important summit but it is not the end, it is the beginning,” he emphasized.