Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis told the Warsaw security forum on Oct. 3 that the US/NATO nuclear umbrella should be extended to Ukraine. At least, that’s how his statement was interpreted in Moscow. The Lithuanian Foreign Ministry posting of a summary of his remarks read:
“We live in a historical moment when a new Berlin Wall is being built. It is up to us only where the wall will be erected. We must spare no effort to keep Ukraine with its 1991 borders on this side. Efforts to strengthen the eastern flank depend on our will to defend ourselves – Germany’s decision to permanently deploy a brigade in Lithuania is a true example of Zeitenwende. Ukraine must join NATO, and NATO’s transatlantic security umbrella should also defend the countries that have been left in a gray geopolitical zone. Why, by saying that we will stand by Ukraine for as long as it takes, we cannot clearly state that we are seeking Ukraine’s victory? Ukraine’s victory must be a strategic goal for all of us.”
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in reply: “This is a country that, I think, has failed to make a major contribution to efforts to address any nuclear security-related issue. At least, I am not aware of any [such contribution]. Meanwhile, this saber rattling does not go unnoticed.”
