Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda says he supports the debate on sending troops to Ukraine to train local forces and urges the West to stop “drawing red lines”.
“I welcomed the idea of sending missions to Ukrainian territory as an idea, and I still believe that we should discuss this idea. Of course, the best thing would be for all of us to agree unanimously on the need for this and to assess very well the intelligence and other information that we have,” Nausėda told reporters in Paris on Wednesday.
He also underlined that the fear of the Kremlin’s possible reaction could not be a determining factor in the European decision.
“If we start saying that no, Vladimir Putin will not like this or that, […] we will never make a decision. And that is why I told both president [Macron] and the media yesterday that we should stop drawing red lines for ourselves,” the Lithuanian president said.
“By drawing red lines, we are only helping Putin who is starting to think that we are predictable and that he can control and manipulate us,” he added.
In late February, French President Emmanuel Macron said the West should not rule out sending troops to Ukraine.
Nausėda also warned in Paris on Wednesday that Europe will not avoid a broader war by passively observing bloodshed on its doorstep as neither Ukraine nor the Baltic states or Poland will satisfy Russia’s territorial ambitions.
In his speech at the opening of the Paris Defence and Strategy Forum, Nausėda said that it is a “fundamental mistake” to believe that Putin’s Russia can be appeased by conceding territories.
“No, the broader war in Europe will not be avoided by sitting quietly and not interfering in the bloodshed Russia is committing in Ukraine,” the president said. “Just as Czechoslovakia did not satisfy Hitler, Ukraine would not satisfy Putin. Neither would the Baltic States or Poland. None of the European states are safe at the moment!”
The president also cautioned against believing that Western democracies can be safe “under the umbrella of nuclear weapons” while being “surrounded by an ocean of tyranny”.
“Russia will not stop. It can only be stopped. And it would be better for us to stop Russia in Ukraine, and to do it sooner than later. Because the longer it takes, the more costly it will be for all of us,” Nausėda said.
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