REUTERS

"Eight years ago, Russia's war in Georgia was meant to be a lesson to the world. RU annexing Crimea showed that was not the case. Sanctions must continue," Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius wrote on Twitter.

Read alsoFT: NATO top brass urges political leaders to be as ready as soldiersAs UNIAN reported earlier, in June, the European Union extended for a year a ban on business dealings with the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014, in a move that was not internationally recognized. The sanctions, now extended until June 23, 2017, prohibit the import of products from Crimea, investment in the area, cooperation in tourism services and the export of some goods and services to the peninsula.

UNIAN memo. On August 8, 2008, following the shelling of Georgian villages, the Georgian armed forces announced their intention to "restore constitutional order" in the territory of the unrecognized republic of South Ossetia and subsequently occupied most of Tskhinvali. The same day, Russia intervened in the conflict on the side of the separatists and sent troops, including armored brigades, to the territory of Georgia, bombing Georgian cities, ports and military facilities. The armed conflict ended with the defeat of Georgia.

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