Lithuania ends all Russian gas imports, urges rest of EU to follow suit

VILNIUS, Lithuania — Lithuania says it has cut itself entirely off of gas imports from Russia and that it’s the first of the European Union’s 27 nations using Russian gas to break its energy dependence upon Moscow.

“Seeking full energy independence from Russian gas, in response to Russia’s energy blackmail in Europe and the war in Ukraine, Lithuania has completely abandoned Russian gas,” Lithuania’s energy ministry says in a statement, adding that the measure took effect at the beginning of April.

Lithuania reduced imports of Russian gas to zero yesterday, a move seen as a milestone in achieving energy independence in the former Soviet republic of 2.8 million, the ministry says.

“We are the first EU country among Gazprom’s supply countries to gain independence from Russian gas supplies, and this is the result of a multi-year coherent energy policy and timely infrastructure decisions,” Minister of Energy Dainius Kreivys says.

Lithuania’a president posts an upbeat tweet on his account and urges other European nations to do the same.