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Ukraine needs strong military backing by the international community to completely defeat Russia’s invasion or face further land grabs by its President Vladimir Putin, says Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis.
The top diplomat said in an interview Monday in Tokyo that Kyiv must be the one to determine how to achieve victory in the war in Ukraine at a time when European leaders are divided over how to end it.
Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis gives an interview in Tokyo on June 6, 2022. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
“It is not up to us to say when Ukraine should stop fighting. We need to make it very clear that we will be providing the weapons and providing assistance until Ukraine has gained the victory that it seeks,” Landsbergis said.
As the war drags on past its 100-day mark, Britain and Poland were taking a hard-line stance toward Moscow, while France and Germany were encouraging Kyiv to seek a cease-fire.
“Russia and Putin have to lose the war. And Ukraine has to win, and we have to make sure this happens,” said Landsbergis, whose country has provided weapons and humanitarian assistance.
“Giving concessions to the aggressor means further invitations to war,” he said, pointing out that Russia’s invasion of Georgia in 2008 was followed by its 2014 annexation of the Crimea region of Ukraine.
Lithuania, a post-Soviet republic, is concerned about possible Russian attacks. The Baltic state shares borders with Russia and Belarus, which is headed by Putin ally President Alexander Lukashenko.
Landsbergis said that if Russia were to attack the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s eastern members, it would likely do so from Belarus.
With the situation on the eastern flank changing “very significantly,” according to Landsbergis, Lithuania is demanding more defenses and permanent deployments of NATO troops on its territories, as well as for fellow former Soviet republics and members Estonia and Latvia.
The three Baltic countries, along with Slovakia, have called for Ukraine’s reconstruction to be funded by Russian assets frozen under sanctions.
“It’s much easier to prove that this money comes from the aggressor state and it can be used to rebuild the country that is a victim,” Landsbergis said. “I think that would be one of the ways that justice is served.”
Around $300 billion of foreign reserves of the Russian central banks, as well as assets belonging to Russian individuals and entities, are already frozen in Europe.
Lithuania has frozen Russian and Belarusian assets totaling 62 million euros ($66 million).
Related coverage:
U.S. announces new $700 mil. aid to Ukraine, including rocket systems
Former Ukraine leader Poroshenko says “maniac” Putin cannot be trusted
Russia declares full control of Ukraine’s Mariupol
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