Baltic States – CIS, Energy, EU – Baltic States, EU – CIS, Lithuania, Nuclear power plant

Kubilius said Fillon confirmed during a visit to Vilnius Friday that state-owned EDF had rejected Moscow's invitation to construct a plant in its Baltic territory of Kaliningrad, which borders Lithuania.

Kubilius told reporters that Fillon told him "very clearly" that "Russia had intensively called on EDF to take part in building the Kaliningrad nuclear power plant and EDF refused".

Vilnius has criticised the planned plant, claiming security requirements have not been met in the project.

Russia rejects the charge and says the plant, meant to be online by 2016, would be the safest in the world, reports LETA/ELTA.

Lithuania shut down its only nuclear plant – a Soviet-era facility – in 2009 under the terms of its 2004 European Union entry.

It aims to build a new one by 2020 with fellow ex-communist EU members Poland, Latvia and Estonia, and is currently in talks with Japanese-US conglomerate Hitachi GE.