K. Vaitiekūnas before ECOFIN: the aggressor must pay
Ahead of the meeting of the Council of Economic and Financial Affairs Ministers (ECOFIN) of the European Union (EU), in a doorstep statement, Minister of Finance Kristupas Vaitiekūnas stressed that Europe must return to the issue of sanctions against russia and a reparation loan to Ukraine.
“The USD 90 billion loan for Ukraine has finally been approved by the Parliament and the European Commission, and it is now important to agree that this money will reach Ukraine in April when the country needs it. Of course, it is important to talk about sanctions, the improvement of the sanctions regime, equalizing it between Western allies, between the United States, Europe and, of course, to re-open the dialogue on the reparation loan. We need to agree on this because the principle that the aggressor must pay is, in our opinion, correct", Kristupas Vaitiekūnas stated.
The Minister also discussed two other ECOFIN issues, which are particularly important for Lithuania. This includes the revised plan “Next Generation Lithuania (NGL)” and the approval of a long-term loan of more than EUR 6 billion to Lithuania under the instrument SAFE. Following the approval, the EC will finalise loan agreements and operational agreements and the first pre-financing payments are expected to be made in March 2026.
More information is here.
Last updated: 17-02-2026
Related news:
Minister of Finance: A historic turning point in ILTE activities
Collection of revenue to the State budget and municipal budgets in January-June
The formation of the political team of the Ministry of Finance has been completed
Defence bonds were distributed for EUR 31.3 million across recent issues