The meeting, which was also attended by Latvian President Egils Levits and Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, focused on the key topics of the NATO Summit in Vilnius and on assistance to Ukraine in its fight against Russia’s aggression.
“We hope that the Vilnius Summit will endorse new defense plans for the region, as well as reinforced air defense for the Alliance’s eastern flank and for the Baltic region,” Gitanas Nausėda pointed out.
The Lithuanian leader also stressed the need for NATO members to renew the agreement on defense spending. “I believe that the 2% of GDP allocated to defense today should be the floor from which we would invest more in the collective security of all of us, in particular by generating defense capabilities,” Gitanas Nausėda said during the meeting with the French President.
According to the President, France, which is a nuclear country, has a major role to play in deterrence and security in Europe. Gitanas Nausėda also noted that France was one of the first countries to decide to send tanks to Ukraine. “This is a very important support for Ukraine, but today we need to talk about other weapons as well, in particular long-range missiles and air defense,” the President said.
