Nauseda on Moscow's demands: aggressor cannot choose from menu

VILNIUS - Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda says no one has the right to issue ultimatums to NATO as the Kremlin says Russia is seeking talks with the US not only on Ukraine but also on NATO enlargement.

"Nobody can give NATO any ultimatums. NATO makes decisions based, first and foremost, on the security of all members of the Alliance, including us, without any doubt," he told reporters on Thursday.

"NATO's Article 5 is working, all this must be properly presented, explained and made clear to the aggressor that the aggressor cannot choose its preferred options from a menu," the Lithuanian leader added.

Any peace deal on Ukraine must be reached in a way that makes sure that later on "there is not the slightest temptation to test NATO's full capacity as an organization".

"In the meantime, NATO as an organization must do much more than it has done so far in order to be able to resist any kind of provocation in the future," Nauseda underlined.

The Kremlin said on Thursday that Russia was seeking talks with the US not only on Ukraine but also on European security and issues of concern to Moscow.

In 2021, Russia demanded that NATO return to its 1997 borders. Among other things, this would mean a NATO without the Baltic states and Poland.

"Certainly, all issues related to security on the European continent, especially in those aspects that concern our country, the Russian Federation, should be discussed comprehensively, and we expect that to be the case," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters today.

Putin used NATO enlargement as one of the pretexts to launch its large-scale invasion of Ukraine.

US President Donald Trump had a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday and agreed to start negotiations on ending the war in Ukraine.