Twenty eight EU heads of state and government and the Prime Minister of Ukraine, Arseniy Yatsenyuk, signed the political provisions of the Association Agreement in Brussels. The European Union and its Member States also reaffirmed their commitment to sign the remainder of the agreement, which includes the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area.

President Dalia Grybauskaitė has departed for Brussels where she will attend a European Council meeting. The heads of state or government of EU member states will discuss the situation in Ukraine, financial support to this country, and will consider possible sanctions on Russia. In the context of recent developments in Ukraine, the leaders will also talk about measures to reduce the EU's energy dependency. The state of the European economy will be reviewed as well.

Today, March 19, President Dalia Grybauskaitė will meet with the Vice President of the United States of America, Joe Biden.

On 17 March the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Linas Linkevičius attended the EU's Foreign Affairs Council meeting in Brussels, unanimously condemned yesterday's illegal referendum in Crimea on joining Russia and stressed that it was in clear breach of the Ukrainian Constitution. The EU does not recognise this referendum and its outcome.

At the plenary sitting, the Seimas adopted the resolution strongly condemning military aggression by the Russian Federation against Ukraine and the occupation of part of Ukraine's territory. The Resolution on Threats from the Russian Federation to security in Ukraine and across Europe was passed by 82 votes in favour, no votes against and 4 abstentions.

On Thursday in Tokyo, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Linas Linkevicius met with Japan's Minister of Foreign Affairs Fumio Kishida.

Parliament passed three separate resolutions on Thursday, calling for urgent political dialogue with Uganda and Nigeria under the Cotonou Agreement on the recent laws against homosexuals; calling on the Russia to review the sentences passed on the Bolotnaya Square demonstrators; and calling for coordinated regional action to tackle human trafficking in Sinai.

Turkey is faced with the most critical progress report yet in its bid to join the European Union, due to recent allegations of fraud and massive corruption and concerns over the lack of a separation of powers. "Justice is the key issue," explained Ria Oomen-Ruijten, a Dutch member of the EPP group who wrote the report. "Turkey shouldn't do it for us. They should do it for the modernisation of the country. It's to the benefit of Turkish citizens." MEPs adopted her report on 12 March.

We, the leaders of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States, the President of the European Council and the President of the European Commission, call on the Russian Federation to cease all efforts to change the status of Crimea contrary to Ukrainian law and in violation of international law. We call on the Russian Federation to immediately halt actions supporting a referendum on the territory of Crimea regarding its status, in direct violation of the Constitution of Ukraine.

As the Lithuania's politicians consider the country's Presidency of the European Union (EU) Council as successful and at the same time express their nuisance related to the stopped EU-Ukraine negotiations over the Association Agreement, Ambassador of Georgia to Lithuania Khatuna Salukvadze say that Vilnius Summit has become the historic event for Georgia.