Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Belarus prepares nuclear weapons for NATO summit
Russia’s threats to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus and Moscow’s deadline for this step coincide with the time of the NATO summit in Vilnius, July 11-12. This was stated by Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis at a meeting of foreign ministers of North Atlantic Alliance countries in Brussels on Tuesday, April 4.
“It’s not just rhetoric,” he said. Missiles. This is definitely a sign for us.”
As the minister pointed out, he knew that earlier “certain equipment had already been brought to Kaliningrad.” “It means we are in an environment where nearby nuclear weapons are a reality,” he said. According to Landsbergis, the situation in the Baltic region calls for serious measures on the part of NATO to contain any military action.
He recalled the commitments assumed by the allies at the last NATO summit in Madrid. “We still need more troops in the Baltic, more air defense systems to send a very clear signal to everyone who talks about nuclear weapons that we are serious about this,” said the Lithuanian minister.
“Belarus is a country with limited sovereignty”
Landsbergis highlighted the exceptional importance of what is happening in Belarus: “We definitely have to recognize that it is losing its sovereignty and that this is happening quickly. At the moment it is a country with very limited sovereignty.”
At the Brussels meeting, the ministers began preparations for the summit in Lithuania. The Lithuanian Foreign Minister noted that he expects clear progress from him on four issues: “A successful summit in Vilnius is the promotion of Ukraine’s political course towards NATO, the commitment of allies to support Ukraine not only until the end, but until real victory, additional protection of NATO’s eastern flank and the opportunity to raise the Swedish flag in Vilnius”.
Ukraine at NATO summit in July
Landsbergis called Ukraine’s entry into the alliance “a very difficult topic”, but expressed hope that the Vilnius summit would find a way to “bring Ukraine closer to NATO so that it can become a member when the time comes”. He cited the 2008 Bucharest memorandum as one of the starting points, where Ukraine, contrary to Kiev’s request, had not received an Action Plan for NATO Membership. The head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania expressed hope that the countries can reach an agreement on this issue and take the next step.
At the NATO summit in Madrid in June 2022, Russia was recognized as the greatest threat to the alliance’s security and agreed to the biggest defense increase in decades. Meeting participants agreed not only to increase alliance forces on the eastern flank, but also adopted a new model, according to which specific units in other states will be assigned to the defense of each of their countries.
Source: DW
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