Ukraine should be fully equipped to prevail on battlefield – Lithuanian Foreign Minister

Gabrielius Landsbergis, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania, has called on NATO countries to provide Ukraine with everything it needs, stressing that military support is the key to success on the battlefield and at the negotiating table.

Source: Landsbergis before the start of the second day of the meeting of NATO Defence Ministers; Ukraine's public broadcaster Hromadske

Details: The minister said that the West does not support Ukraine enough, comparing the costs of helping Ukraine with the costs of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Quote: "There is an illusion that we cannot somehow provide Ukraine with everything it needs. And so we are just digging in the dirt, trying to find a couple of hundred million euros or dollars to support Ukraine. But if you look at the conflicts that have taken place in the recent past – let's take Afghanistan and Iraq – we have spent trillions on these wars. So, if you compare how much we have spent on Ukraine, it's negligible."

Details: The Minister stressed the need for immediate and comprehensive military assistance to Ukraine.

Quote: "If we want peace in Ukraine, there is no other way. We will have to provide security guarantees, and from our point of view, there is no better, cheaper way to provide security guarantees than actual NATO Article 5 security guarantees."

Background:

• On 3-4 December, the NATO-Ukraine Council met at NATO Headquarters.
• NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said that he saw the goal of the allies to provide Ukraine with a level of assistance that would allow it to start negotiations with Russia in a strong position, and Moscow would not see any chance of achieving its goals.
• Rutte noted before the meeting that the Alliance saw no signs that the Kremlin leader was preparing for any kind of truce.

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