Lithuanian president calls deterrence key element of Ukraine's peace formula

2022-02-18
BNS/TBT Staff

VILNIUS – Deterrence is the key element of Ukraine's peace formula, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said as he attended an informal meeting of the European Council as well as the EU-AU summit in Brussels.

"What's important now is our unity, a strong position and that position is the best deterrence element. Speaking of Ukraine's peace formula, it’s not a high-math formula, it's a political formula, and deterrence is the key element of this formula," Nauseda said on Thursday night ahead of the EU-AU summit.

One needs to be prepared to provide Ukraine "with all necessary assistance, including energy, military as well as financial assistance as Ukraine is now suffering because of high tensions, lost funds, investments and reserves", the Lithuanian president said.

He also said he appreciated French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's effort to resolve the Ukrainian-Russian crisis through bilateral meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"I very much appreciate Mr. Macron's the French presidents', as well as Mr. Scholz's, the German chancellor's, personal effort to get involved in this process. I think that meetings with Putin are beneficial, first of all, because of the direct contact and goal of better understanding his aspirations, but it's also a great opportunity to communicate our message to him," Nauseda said.

He also pointed out that not only the events near Ukraine's eastern border but also Russia's military buildup in Belarus was raising concern.

"Putin has promised to withdraw troops once the drills are over, but we do not hear specific intentions to do that, which is raising concern, and not only for Ukraine, but also for the Baltic states and Poland," Nauseda said.

Moscow now has over 100,000 of its troops near Ukraine's border, stoking fears in the West of its possible invasion of Ukraine. Western countries are also concerned about the ongoing joint Russian-Belarusian military drills in Belarus.