NATO Summit to Be Historic in Terms of Achievements or Lost Opportunities – Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs

Wednesday, 21 June 2023

Gabrielius Landsbergis, Lithuanian Foreign Affairs Minister, believes that the NATO summit in Vilnius will become historic either because of its achievements or because of lost opportunities.

"There are those who say that the summit will be historic in any case, the only question is whether it will be historic because of the achievements or because of the lost opportunities. Is there such an opportunity? It certainly exists," LRT quotes Gabrielius Landsbergis, who told this journalists in the Lithuanian Seimas.

Landsbergis added that he wants to believe that the remaining weeks before the summit "will give us as an Alliance the opportunity to fill these gaps and move towards a more historic leaders meeting in Vilnius", and Ukraine will receive a clear signal about the prospects of its NATO membership.

"Lithuania is one of NATO's members, in total there are 31 of them, and we have a political position, we defend it, we help Ukraine with all the tools and all the forces," Landsbergis emphasised.

He also expressed hope that Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine, will participate in the summit and called his arrival important.

Landsbergis said that Lithuania seeks to highlight challenges to its security during the summit, "which are specifically related to our geographical position and the presence of a border with both Russia and Belarus, we want it to be reflected through this prism."

According to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, the issue of formally inviting Ukraine to the Alliance will not be considered at the summit in Vilnius.

Natalia Halibarenko, the Ambassador of Ukraine to the North Atlantic Alliance, believes that the Vilnius NATO summit should offer a certain commitment or guarantee of future membership for Kyiv. 

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