Lithuanian president hopes US will finally realize talks with Russia not working

VILNIUS - Lithuanian Gitanas Nauseda hopes that the United States will finally realize that talks with Russia are not working, adding that only through support for Kyiv both militarily and financially it is possible to deter the Kremlin from further aggression in Ukraine.

"I would like the United States, our biggest partner, to finally realize that Russia is not being constructive. To realize that nothing can be achieved with words, incantations, or good will alone," Nauseda, who is in New York right now, said in a comment released by the presidential press service on Tuesday.

Other Western countries have already tried to convince Russian leader Vladimir Putin through telephone conversations, but without success, the Lithuanian leader pointed out.

"Many Western leaders have tried phone calls, persuasion, attempts to appeal to some kind of spiritual things, but, you know, there is no spirit there, there's only pure interest and very brutal activities, and we must stop those activities," he stressed.

Putin does not want peace, Nauseda said, adding that he misses the understanding in the largest NATO countries that Putin's ambition is to seize all of Ukraine and Moscow seeks to establish a puppet government that it can control.

"Of course, we will oppose such plans, and it seems to me that there is a growing understanding even in the largest NATO countries that Putin does not want peace and will try to avoid it at any cost" Nauseda said.

"There is no doubt that the best way to achieve peace is through coercion, and that is why I am in favor of providing maximum support to Ukraine in the short term so that the strengthening of Ukraine's defense industry can proceed with the help of all of us," he added.

The Lithuanian leader says he sees how rapidly Ukraine's defense industry is developing, adding, however, that its potential is much greater.

"They cannot use their full potential due to a lack of financial resources. This means that the initiative to buy for Ukraine with our money and help its industry to operate at full capacity is one of the key objectives," the Lithuanian leader said.

Nause is in New York right now to attend the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly.

During the session, US President Donald Trump is expected to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. This will be Trump's second meeting with Zelensky since August 15 when the US leader met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska, ending Moscow's isolation in the West but failing to achieve any breakthrough on peace in Ukraine.

Over the past month, Russia has not only continued its attacks on Ukraine, but has also increasingly fueled fears in the West with aircraft incursions into the airspace of NATO members Poland, Estonia and Romania.