"Perhaps this is a reflection on Lithuania's actions (the prime minister's meeting with Gazprom). The developments of recent weeks and our stance apparently were not what Russia expected and what it would welcome," the website cited Dargis as saying during an LRT TV program on Wednesday evening.
"I was in Moscow yesterday and spoke to some Russian officials, mostly local industrialists, and Gazprom's visit to Lithuania was mentioned. Certainly, we can't say that that this the main reason behind the current crisis. There are more of them, but this certainly had an impact," he said.
Dargis said that it was difficult to say at the moment what losses Lithuanian exporters and haulers would incur. In his words, many countries are competing for the Russian market and Lithuanian products on the shelves of Russian stores can be replaced with Polish products in a matter of days.
The president of the confederation said that he would not rely on the European Union to defend Lithuania from Russia.
"Relying solely on the EU to defend us from Russia is not a very healthy thing to do. EU countries have different relations with Russia. Therefore, we should not expect that some commissioner will make a phone call to Russia's authorities and sort everything out," he said.
