"Lithuania has already made its decisions, and made them quite early, in March," Cmilyte-Nielsen told reporters. "When we declared a state of emergency, we sharply restricted visa issuance for Russian and Belarusian citizens; they are only issued on humanitarian grounds."
"And judging by Russia's recent very painful reactions to Estonia's statements on similar decisions, it is obvious that this is a pain point for Russia, and apparently this could be an adequate reaction at the EU's level to the ongoing brutal war in Ukraine," she added.
The Czech Republic, which now holds the rotating EU presidency, said last week that the bloc could add a blanket ban on visas for all Russian travelers to its sanctions against Moscow.
Tallinn has gone further, restricting entry to Russians already holding Schengen visas issued by Estonia.
Cmilyte-Nielsen said that Lithuania should also consider such a measure.
"I think that when we look at what is happening in Ukraine, when we look at the people and children who die every day, the other side of the scales should not be outweighed by Russian tourists' interests. I think such measures should be considered," she said.
Following the invasion of Ukraine by Kremlin forces, Lithuania was one of the first EU member countries to restrict the issuance of new Schengen and national visas to Russian citizens. This was done through a parliament resolution declaring a state of emergency.