Vilnius - Lithuania's President Valdas Adamkus took part in a teleconference Thursday morning with his Ukrainian and Polish counterparts, Viktor Yushchenko and Lech Kaczynski, to discuss the ongoing gas supply dispute between Russia and Ukraine, according to official sources.

"The leaders of Ukraine and Poland requested the Lithuanian president to actively support Ukraine's position in the conflict and to explain its standpoint to EU leaders," a statement from the presidential press service said.

Adamkus enjoys close relationships with both Yushchenko and Kaczynski, and though Lithuania has not suffered directly as a result of the gas dispute, the Lithuanian president has long championed the causes of both energy security and a coordinated Eastern European response to major geopolitical questions.

In 2007 Adamkus launched a series of high-profile energy conferences in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius, which both Yushchenko and Kaczynski have attended in the past.

During the teleconference, the presidents underlined that the international community should be more active in searching for a common agreement aimed at resuming the flow of gas to EU countries and agreed that the current situation was not helpful for resolving the "vitally important" problem of energy supplies.

Russia and Ukraine have been in a stand-off since January 1 over natural gas delivery terms. An effective Kremlin embargo on gas shipments to Ukraine has been in effect for three weeks and on transit shipments to Europe for eight days. (dpa)