GITANAS NAUSEDA

Trade ministers from a handful of nations have announced an initiative to promote trade policies that support action on climate change at a press conference in Davos, Switzerland.

European Union leaders are struggling to bridge significant differences over a natural gas price cap as winter approaches and Russia’s war on Ukraine fuels an energy crisis.

After Ukrainian victories near Kherson, the Kremlin’s forces there are now “in a defensive crouch,” a senior U.S. military official said.

The presidents of NATO members Poland and Lithuania have voiced confidence that allied troops can fully safeguard a strategically vital corridor, which links their countries, between Russian ally Belarus and a Russian Baltic Sea exclave.

Bolstering the defense of the Baltic region is seen as one of the most important decisions for NATO leaders to take at the group's June 29-30 summit.

Nine NATO nations on the alliance’s eastern flank have held talks in Romania ahead of a key NATO summit later this month.

Kremlin critic Bill Browder wants governments to step up efforts to get to the riches squirreled away by Russian oligarchs by forcing accountants, lawyers and others who set up murky legal and financial structures to become whistleblowers.

Lithuania managed to reduce imports of Russian gas to zero.

Lithuania says it has cut itself off entirely of gas imports from Russia, apparently becoming the first of the European Union's 27 nations using Russian gas to break its energy dependence upon Moscow.

Amb. Michael McFaul tells MSNBC’s Jonathan Capehart that he thinks it’s “highly unlikely” that Vladimir Putin would want to expand this war in response to potentially the first Ukrainian attack on Russian soil, adding the U.S. should keep sending weapons to Ukraine despite fears Putin might escalate the war: “The only way there will be peace in Ukraine is if there is a military stalemate.”

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is on a lightning visit to the three Baltic states that are increasingly on edge as they watch Russia press ahead with its invasion of Ukraine

U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has assured the three Baltic nations that they would not be on their own if faced with security threats from Russia.

The U.S. and its NATO partners are still negotiating with Russia amid military buildups by both sides, but military preparations are not based on best-case scenarios.

Poland and Lithuania have joined Ukraine to urge stronger Western sanctions against Moscow amid a Russian troops buildup near the Ukrainian border that fueled fears of an invasion.

The call comes as concerns grow about the intentions of President Vladimir Putin and the increasing Russian troop presence near the Ukrainian border.

The European Union’s border agency is pledging to “significantly” step up its support to Lithuania “due to the growing migratory pressure at Lithuania’s border with Belarus” that the Baltic nation is trying to contain.

The European Union’s border agency is pledging to “significantly” step up its support to Lithuania in the coming days “due to the growing migratory pressure at Lithuania’s border with Belarus” that the Baltic nation is trying to contain. The decision by Frontex, the agency responsible for coordinating border control between EU member states and third countries, was announced late Saturday following a video call between Frontex’s Executive Director Fabrice Leggeri and Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda.

The New York Police Department this month rolled out a video “game truck” in an effort to connect with youth, particularly in low-income neighborhoods, where community relations with law enforcement have been strained thanks to generations of mistrust. But despite the NYPD’s stated intent, the game truck program has its critics.

A news conference at a NATO air base in Lithuania featuring Lithuania’s president and Spain’s prime minister got abruptly cut off when the pair of Spanish fighter jets serving as the backdrop were scrambled to monitor errant military aircraft in the Baltic skies.

A news conference at a NATO air base in Lithuania featuring Lithuania's president and Spain's prime minister got abruptly cut off Thursday when the pair of Spanish fighter jets serving as the leaders' backdrop were scrambled to monitor errant military aircraft in the skies above the Baltics. The Spanish government said an unidentified plane prompted the alert and briefly interrupted remarks by Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez. A NATO official who spoke on customary condition of anonymity told The Associated Press later Thursday that Spain's jets took off "to identify two aircraft flying into the Baltic Sea area.”

European Union member Lithuania has declared a state of emergency due to an influx of migrants from neighboring Belarus in the last few days.

People wear face masks to protect against coronavirus as they cast their ballots during the parliamentary elections in Vilnius, Lithuania, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2020. Polls opened Sunday for the first round of national election in Lithuania, where voters will renew the 141-seat parliament and the ruling four-party coalition is widely expected to face a stiff challenge from the opposition to remain in office. Results were expected by early Monday, but the commission said there might be delays in counting because of early voting by citizens and strict coronavirus measures. Marija Kazlauskiene, a 75-year-old retiree, said she prefers the ruling coalition. Lithuania has granted shelter to Belarus opposition figure Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who fled Belarus after challenging President Alexander Lukashenko in the country’s Aug. 9 presidential vote.

Lithuania's president has pardoned two Russians convicted of spying, his office said Friday, a move seen as a step toward a spy swap with neighboring Russia that could include a Norwegian citizen serving a 14-year sentence for espionage. (AP Photo/Mindaugas Kulbis)Two Lithuanian men convicted of spying in Russia and a Norwegian citizen serving a 14-year sentence have been freed as part of a spy swap, authorities said Friday. Yevgeny Mataitis and Aristidas Tamosaitis, who were convicted in 2016, have been reunited with their families, Lithuanian spy chief Darius Jauniskis said. In Oslo, Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg said Frode Berg was handed over to Norwegian authorities in Lithuania. We are happy that Frode Berg is now coming home to Norway as a free man, Solberg said in a statement.