[1/3]Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda looks on ahead of a working dinner for NATO leaders at the Catshuis, in The Hague, Netherlands June 27, 2023. REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw/File Photo
VILNIUS, July 4 (Reuters) – Lithuania's president urged NATO leaders to be bolder in addressing Ukraine's push for membership at a summit in his country next week, saying this would boost Kyiv's battlefield performance while Moscow would see any caution as weakness.
In an interview with Reuters, President Gitanas Nauseda advised NATO allies to disregard fears that bringing Ukraine into the U.S.-led military alliance would provoke Russia, which invaded Ukraine on Feb. 22, 2022.
"We should not hesitate to take bolder decisions because otherwise the Putin regime will decide that the Western allies are too weak, (that they should be) pushed to the corner and they will surrender", Nauseda said on Monday.
"Our stronger wording on Ukraine's (membership) perspective would for sure increase the fighting spirit of Ukrainian soldiers on the battlefield. And this is very important", he added.
Ukraine has been pressing NATO to declare at the July 11 and 12 summit that Kyiv would join the alliance soon after the end of the war, and to set out a roadmap to membership.
But other members such as the U.S. and Germany have been more cautious, wary of any moves they fear could take the alliance closer to an active war with Russia, which has long seen NATO's expansion as evidence of Western hostility.
Nauseda told Reuters that a promise of an easier path to NATO membership after the war and more military support pledges could be offered to Ukraine at the next week's gathering.
"We have some countries which are cautious about the stronger wording on Ukraine's perspective. But I already see some shift in the minds of their leaders", Nauseda said.
"We all understand that right now, in the midst of the war, Ukraine is not able to join NATO immediately. We understand that. Ukrainians understand that. But we need to create procedures, how to proceed … so there is no wasting of time if the war is over and victory is on Ukrainian side".
Nauseda said he expects Ukrainian President Volodymir Zelenskiy to show up in Vilnius, despite his warnings that he sees "no point" in going if Kyiv is not given a "signal" at the meeting: "I hope he will be here and he will play an important role in the decision making in Vilnius".
Several countries are readying an "additional portfolio of (military support) obligations" for Ukraine, to announce at the NATO summit, Nauseda said.
However the possibility of Sweden being accepted into NATO in Vilnius is getting "complicated", and the chances it will be able to join at the summit are going down "with each additional day", Nauseda said.
Sweden applied to join NATO following the invasion, but Turkey and Hungary have so far blocked ratification.
Nauseda said he expects Germany to deploy 4,000 troops in Lithuania, with families and equipment, by about 2026-2027, in gradual increases. The deployment was pledged by German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius last week, and Canada is taking decision to incrase its troops in Latvia, Nauseda said.
The Lithuanian president said the host country expects provocations, during and after the summit, along its border with Belarus, where the Russian Wagner private militia has been offered refuge after its failed coup.
"You can expect that the (Wagner) fighters can emerge at the border as migrants, as citizens of Belarus… we can expect a lot of provocations there, especially ahead of Vilnius summit or afterwards. And I think this is a very important element of our security", said the president.
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Thomson Reuters
Andrius covers politics and general news in the Baltics – Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, the three key states along the NATO's eastern flank, the staunchest supporters of Ukraine and the most vocal critics of Russia in NATO and the European Union. He wrote stories on everything from China pressuring German companies to leave Taiwan-supporting Lithuania to Iraqi migrants hiding in the forest at the Belarus border to a farmer burning grain for heat during the energy crisis. Contact: +37068274006.
China called Taiwan Vice President William Lai a separatist and "troublemaker through and through."
Reuters, the news and media division of Thomson Reuters, is the world’s largest multimedia news provider, reaching billions of people worldwide every day. Reuters provides business, financial, national and international news to professionals via desktop terminals, the world's media organizations, industry events and directly to consumers.
Build the strongest argument relying on authoritative content, attorney-editor expertise, and industry defining technology.
The most comprehensive solution to manage all your complex and ever-expanding tax and compliance needs.
The industry leader for online information for tax, accounting and finance professionals.
Access unmatched financial data, news and content in a highly-customised workflow experience on desktop, web and mobile.
Browse an unrivalled portfolio of real-time and historical market data and insights from worldwide sources and experts.
Screen for heightened risk individual and entities globally to help uncover hidden risks in business relationships and human networks.
All quotes delayed a minimum of 15 minutes. See here for a complete list of exchanges and delays.
© 2023 Reuters. All rights reserved