EU needs sanctions commissioner, says Lithuanian foreign minister

Gabrielius Landsbergis expresses frustration at the number of loopholes being exploited

The EU should consider appointing a full-time commissioner to oversee the drafting and enforcing of sanctions so they can be used effectively against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Lithuanian foreign minister, Gabrielius Landsbergis, told the Guardian in an interview.

He was speaking in London as he met the foreign secretary, James Cleverly, on Wednesday to discuss the summer Nato summit in Vilnius, the Lithuanian capital, where the Baltic states will press for progress on Ukraine’s Nato application and for more to be done to defend the bloc’s European flank.