Boris Tarasyuk, the Ukrainian government's special envoy for Crimea, told the foreign affairs committee on Monday that Ukraine needed the EU to sign the association agreement as quickly as possible. He called Russia's action "both intervention and aggression" and voiced his gratitude for MEPs' solidarity.

President Dalia Grybauskaitė spoke on the phone with the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, David Cameron, to discuss the developments in Ukraine and their possible consequences to the security of the region and the whole of Europe, as well as to coordinate positions of Lithuania and the United Kingdom over immediate measures for a settlement of the conflict.

Lithuania is deeply troubled by today's decision of the Russian Senate to authorise the deployment of Russian military forces to Ukraine. This decision being taken in absence of any international mandate and against the clearly expressed will of Ukrainian Government, it represents a blatant violation by Russia of international law as well as of sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine. We underline the inadmissibility of the threat or use of force in international relations.

On 27 February, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Linas Linkevičius began his one-day visit to Kiev by honouring those who were killed on Maidan. The Lithuanian Foreign Minister also met with the Parliament Speaker and Ukraine's Acting President Oleksandr Turchynov, the new Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, the head of the Security Service Valentin Nalivaichenko, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrey Dashchitsa, the Minister of Youth and Sport Dmitro Bulatov, Members of the Verkhovna Rada (Parliament) Borys Tarasyuk and Petro Poroshenko. The Lithuanian Foreign Minister also met with the Lithuanian medical staff who had rushed to Kyiv to provide help.

Only respect for fundamental rights, constructive and respectful dialogue and tolerance can help Venezuela to find a way out of its current violent crisis, MEPs said in a vote on Thursday. They condemned all acts of violence and loss of life and asked for an ad-hoc delegation of the European Parliament to be sent to Venezuela as soon as possible.

On 24-25 February, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Linas Linkevičius and the Foreign Minister of Latvia Edgars Rinkēvičs are paying a working visit to Chișinău, the capital of Moldova.

An official delegation of twelve MEPs were travelling to Kyiv on Saturday afternoon to meet with counterparts in the Ukrainian parliament (Verkhovna Rada) and discuss future assistance. The delegation, which went to Ukraine at the end of January as well, will stay for two days.

"I welcome the agreement reached by the Ukrainian President and the opposition leaders, facilitated by the foreign ministers of Poland, Germany and France, on behalf of the EU, on a road map for a political resolution of the crisis.

At an extraordinary meeting on 20 February, EU foreign ministers decided to introduce sanctions against those responsible for violence and the use of excessive force in Ukraine.

After three rounds of negotiations for the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht is holding meetings with United States Trade Representative Ambassador Michael Froman in Washington D.C. to review progress since the talks started in July 2013.