Baltic nations could ban Russian vessels if EU decision drags on

VILNIUS (Reuters) – The three Baltic states could ban Russian vessels from their ports if discussions on a European Union-wide decision drags on, Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte told a news conference on Wednesday.

News agency BNS reported earlier on Wednesday that Lithuania’s government was planning to ban ships sailing under Russian flag or with any other connections to Russia, its people or companies.

The government said later it would postpone the national decision since a proposal was made for the European Commission to impose an EU-wide ban.

“If there will be bigger discussions (on an EU-wide ban), then we would propose to implement it in coordination with the (Baltic) neighbours. We have agreed in principle,” Simonyte said, referring to neighbouring nations Estonia and Latvia.

(This story corrects spelling of PM’s name in 1st para)

(Reporting by Andrius Sytas and Nerijus Adomaitis, writing by Terje Solsvik, editing by Gwladys Fouche)