Russia's failure to comply with Minsk agreements entails EU sanctions - Lithuanian president

"It is important that Europe understands and agrees with the principles set out in the Minsk agreements, and they are not observed. Therefore, sanctions will remain in place," the Lithuanian president said in an interview with a Ukrainian TV channel on Sunday evening. The Lithuanian president is confident that it is crucial to seek a dialogue and peaceful solutions to problems with neighbouring countries. "And, of course, to attract the international community to this matter as much as possible," Grybauskaite said. She also commented that Ukraine could get visa-free regime with the European Union by yearend. "Only the political procedure – approval by the Council of the European Union – has been left. I think Ukraine is most likely to be granted the EU visa-free regime during this year, late in 2016 or early in 2017," she said.