Lithuania will strive to maintain the sanctions imposed against the Russian Federation until it withdraws its armed forces and stops the illegal occupation of a part of the territory of Ukraine, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Lithuanian state said.

"We will continue to consistently implement the policy of non-recognition of the illegal annexation of Crimea and Sevastopol, and will seek to keep the EU and other international sanctions against the Russian Federation in place until Russia withdraws its military forces and ends the illegal occupation of a part of the territory of Ukraine," the Foreign Ministry of the Republic of Lithuania said in its statement posted on Friday.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania declares its strong support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders.

"We strongly condemn the Russian military aggression against Ukraine that started seven years ago and still continues, and the illegal annexation of Crimea and Sevastopol in gross violation of international law. Today, bearing in mind the provisions of the United Nations General Assembly resolution 68/262, we urge the Russian Federation to respect Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity," the statement reads.

The Foreign Ministry of Lithuania called on Russia to stop systematically violating human rights and suppressing fundamental freedoms in the illegally annexed Crimea, as well as to end the repression of human rights defenders, journalists, civil society members, especially the Crimean Tatars, and to lift the ban on the activities of the Mejlis, a self-governing body of the Crimean Tatars.

"We call for the release of all unlawfully imprisoned Ukrainian citizens. We also call on the Russian Federation to end the militarization of the Crimean Peninsula and to ensure unhindered and free passage of all ships through the Kerch Strait to and from the Azov Sea," the ministry said.