The President stressed that Russia was escalating its war in Ukraine with all available means. According to Gitanas Nausėda, reports of a possible increase of Russian troops deployed on the territory of Belarus, as well as the possible direct involvement of Belarus in Russia's war of aggression on Ukraine, are very disturbing.
“Russia’s actions in escalating the war in Ukraine mean one thing only: NATO allies must be united as a fist and increase their support for Ukraine,” the President said.
Gitanas Nausėda underscored the importance of further strengthening the defense capabilities on NATO's eastern flank and accelerating the transition from deterrence to forward defense. According to the President, the decisions taken at the Madrid Summit must be consistently implemented to demonstrate allied commitment to collective security and undivided unity. He emphasized the need to enhance air defense in the Baltic region and the urgency of delivering air defense systems to Ukraine.
“Lithuania takes national security very seriously and consistently increases its defense spending. We are committing significant resources to infrastructure development so we can host more allied troops on our territory. We welcome effective cooperation with Germany and look forward to the deployment of a full German brigade in Lithuania in the near future,” the President said.
Gitanas Nausėda and Jens Stoltenberg also discussed the NATO summit to be held in Vilnius next year. The President underlined that Lithuania expected the summit to deliver ambitious results.
