Lithuania's foreign minister says his country has agreed to drop its objections to EU-Russia talks on a new strategic partnership, AP reported.
The small Baltic country had blocked the negotiations because it first wanted Moscow to improve its ties with its immediate neighbors.
But Lithuanian Foreign Minister Petras Vaitiekunas said Sunday the EU has agreed to include his country's concerns in the mandate for next month's negotiations.
His comments came after a meeting with the foreign ministers of Slovenia, which currently holds the rotating EU presidency.
The EU wants a new strategic partnership to redefine the way it imports oil and gas from Russia and to persuade it to open its vast energy sector to investors from Western Europe.