President Grybauskaitė: Russia is engaging in “territorial aggression” in Ukraine

Attending the World Economic Forum in Davos, the Lithuanian leader on Wednesday briefly discussed the existing situation with her Ukrainian counterpart Petro Poroshenko, who brought to Davos a piece of the bus that was hit by a shell in eastern Ukraine.

“It’s open territorial aggression being carried out not by some terrorists-separatists, but by Russia itself because neither separatists, nor any other people can have such weaponry. You cannot buy it at a town market or on the street. It’s very specific and can be supplied by a major country. And there’s direct evidence that not only Russian weapons are being used, but also the Russian army, its units are taking part,” Grybauskaitė told BNS by phone from Davos.

Russia ‘s representatives are openly lying about the situation in Ukraine, the Lithuanian president said.

“We hear a lot of lies when they say one thing and do the opposite. When one side is being blamed and in fact the other one is not meeting its commitments,” Grybauskaitė said.

She also said she discussed with Poroshenko the existing situation in the country as well as preparations for the upcoming Eastern Partnership summit in Latvia in May.

Eastern Ukraine has seen a rise in military action lately. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Wednesday that Russia had stepped up deployment of heavy weaponry and military equipment in eastern Ukraine. Kiev says around 9,000 Russian troops are currently assisting pro-Russian separatists, which Moscow officially denies.