EU leaders agreed Thursday to extend economic sanctions on Russia for six months until July 2017, EU diplomats said.

Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs strongly condemns another terrorist attack in Turkey committed on 17 December this time in Kayseri, near Erciyes University and a military town.

On 16 December, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Linas Linkevičius congratulated the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan Erlan Idrissov and all the people of Kazakhstan on the 25th anniversary of its Independence.

On 13 December, the Ambassador of Lithuania Andrius Pulokas presented his letters of credence to the President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko.

The entry into force today of a new Plant Health Regulation marks an important moment for the protection of agriculture, the food chain and the environment in the EU. In times when global trade intersects with climate change challenges, the plant pests outbreaks, such as the current case of Xylella fastidiosa, should and can be anticipated.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania strongly condemns the terror attack in the centre of Istanbul near Beşiktaş stadium yesterday night where dozens of people were killed and over a hundred, some of them very seriously, injured.

On Monday, December 12, President Dalia Grybauskaitė is going on a working visit to Kyiv where she will meet with President Petro Poroshenko and take part in the ninth meeting of the Council of Presidents of Lithuania and Ukraine.

The people of Ghana participated peacefully and in large numbers in the Presidential and Parliamentary elections on 7 December.

At the meeting of the OSCE Ministerial Council in Hamburg on 8 December, the Permanent Representative of Lithuania to the International Organizations in Vienna, Ambassador Giedrius Čekuolis drew attention to the lack of progress in resolving the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, and called for a prompt implementation of the Minsk agreements.

The U.S. leadership role in NATO has acquired special significance in the face of growing security challenges, therefore, Lithuania is ready to work closely with the next U.S. administration. This was said by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Linas Linkevičius at a meeting of NATO Ministers of Foreign Affairs in Brussels.