Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu on Tuesday once again underscored that his country's ties with Russia "is not an alternative" to the relations with the EU or the U.S.
"Our relations with Russia is not an alternative to our relations with Lithuania or to European Union or our relations with the United States... Turkey can perfectly balance its foreign policy in this region," Çavuşoğlu said in a joint news conference with Lithuania's Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius, following their meeting.
Regarding a delegation from the U.S. Congress visiting Turkey, Çavuşoğlu stressed the significance of dialogue between U.S. and Turkey.
"[The fact that] Congress members are coming to Turkey is important. Because there are different institutions in the U.S. Different positions, different beliefs [...] Of course, there are also members of the Congress who know the importance of Turkey and those strive for the strengthening of Turkey-U.S. relations," he added.
Turkey and the U.S. are currently experiencing rocky relations after Washington imposed sanctions on two Turkish Cabinet ministers for not releasing an American pastor facing terrorism-related charges in Turkey.
"Turkey is not one of the states of the United States, Turkey is an independent state. We don't have to agree on every decision or actions of one country against another country, particularly when it is not fair, and not just," he said, referring to U.S. sanctions on Iran.
Earlier, Çavuşoğlu arrived in the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius for an official visit and met Lithuania's President Dalia Grybauskaite.
"At our meeting with President Dalia Grybauskaite of Lithuania, we conveyed [to her] President Erdoğan's best wishes and congratulations on the occasion of the Centennial of the Restoration of the State of Lithuania," Çavuşoğlu said on Twitter.
Also on Twitter, he announced the signing of "Turkey-Lithuania Agreement on Reciprocal Promotion and Protection of Investments."
"We appreciate Lithuania's support for Turkey's EU accession process," Çavuşoğlu added.
Çavuşoğlu also reiterated Turkey's determination for EU membership.
"We [Turkey] know that many obstacles in front of us are not technical, but political."
