The President at the annual meeting with foreign ambassadors: It is the duty of all freedom loving countries of the world to help Ukraine
President of the Republic of Lithuania
February 15, 2023
On Wednesday, President Gitanas Nausėda met with ambassadors and heads of diplomatic missions accredited to Lithuania. During the annual meeting, the President highlighted the main security challenges posed by Russia's war against Ukraine, the need for comprehensive and solidarity-based assistance to Ukraine, the cooperation between the European and transatlantic coalition, and the achievements and priorities of the European Union.
In his address to the ambassadors, the President stressed that Europe and all freedom loving countries of the world had a duty to help Ukraine in every possible way, first and foremost in military, but also in political, economic, financial, and humanitarian terms. "What will be crucial both in the short and long run is our ability to boost defense industries and speed up military production. We need to provide Ukrainians with all the tools they need to fight, and to be ready to defend ourselves. Lithuania was among the first to help and is determined to continue helping Ukraine," the President spoke.
Gitanas Nausėda noted that Ukraine was fighting for its future and the future of Europe. "Ukraine needs to win both for its national survival and independence, and for our common future," the President said. The international community has to consistently defend democracy and international order, assist Ukraine and ensure that the aggressor is held accountable for the war crimes.
President Gitanas Nausėda also stressed that NATO was the cornerstone of European security and defense and underlined the need to reinforce NATO's eastern flank and the Baltic region. Speaking of the NATO Summit to be held in Vilnius in the summer, the President stressed the importance of implementing the decisions taken in Madrid last year, as well as of bringing Ukraine closer to the Alliance, both politically and practically. Gitanas Nausėda expressed his hope to be able to welcome Finland and Sweden as new NATO members at the Vilnius Summit.
The President underlined the need for an agreement on further increases in defense spending. "Lithuania would like to see an agreement among allies on a subsequent and more ambitious increase in defense spending beyond 2024. We could call it the Vilnius Defense Investment Pledge. Lithuania has already increased its defense budget up to 2.52 percent of GDP for 2023. In the current strategic reality, 2 percent of GDP should become a floor—not a ceiling," the President said.
"Peace, prosperity and security are the key achievements of the European Union," the President noted in his speech, underlining the importance of developing stability and security in the region and beyond. "We trust Ukraine's ability to deliver the necessary reforms and proceed with membership negotiations as soon as possible when the conditions are met, maybe even this year," Gitanas Nausėda spoke.
The President also stressed that sanctions against Russia had to be expanded to stop the financing of its war. According to Gitanas Nausėda, Lithuania has already shown leadership by cutting off energy imports from Russia and is now ready to assist other EU countries, Ukraine, as well as countries of Indo-Pacific region.
Gitanas Nausėda also pointed out that Vilnius was celebrating its 700th anniversary this year, and highlighted excellent investment climate in the capital city and in Lithuania as a whole, as well as highly skilled labor force and attractive infrastructure. The President called on the ambassadors to explore opportunities for closer cooperation, encouraging people-to-people contacts, and wished everyone unity and determination in defending democracy, freedom and building prosperity.
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