According to the head of the Seimas Foreign Affairs Committee, Lithuania must now be the voice of Ukraine, and all Lithuanian institutions should consistently maintain this position.
Skaisgirytė pointed out on the radio that today's fight should be with adversaries, not with allies. She was reacting to Pavilionis' rhetoric on the decisions taken at the NATO summit in Vilnius regarding Ukraine.
Pavilionis has repeatedly said in public that if US President Joe Biden does not change his position on Ukraine, he will urge only the Lithuanian-American and other communities not to vote for the incumbent President and the Democrats in the upcoming elections.
"You always have to manage your expectations, and in this case, some Lithuanian politicians have apparently not managed their expectations very well, and accusations have been made against allies because they are not doing things the right way, not thinking the right way, not voting the right way. This is certainly counterproductive because you have to fight the opponents, not the allies", Skaisgirytė criticised.
"We are asking the same allies for a greater military presence in Lithuania and a greater involvement in our defence. You cannot ask with one hand and beat with the other. This is a very unproductive way, and it can also bring harm to Lithuania," Nausėda's chief advisor added on Žinių radijas.
On Tuesday, Pavilionis himself commented on the words of the representative of the Presidency.
"I have been used to not reacting to such criticism over the years because I have worked in America for many years - there are situations when America does not necessarily hear us, does not necessarily hear our region, does not necessarily hear to the end, and in the way that we want.
That is normal - it is a big country, it speaks a lot of languages, and it has a lot of intersecting interests, but fate has given us this duty to be the voice of Ukraine in both the European Union and NATO. Once upon a time, Denmark was our voice in a similar way, and it was very difficult," explained the Seimas Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman to lrytas.lt.
According to Pavilionis, both the Presidency and all other institutions and political parties agree that Lithuania must continue its efforts to ensure that Ukraine eventually enters through the NATO door.
"As America goes to the polls, Lithuania needs to continue to work consistently with all party camps to ensure that, regardless of the party or the candidate, the majority of congressmen and senators support this goal. So far, the trend is that there is growing fatigue on both the left and the right, a focus on domestic issues, which is natural before elections.
I believe, and I think that both the Presidency at its level and every minister and member of the Parliament involved in this struggle will do their best to achieve this goal", said the politician.
Although he does not renounce his position on NATO decisions, Pavilionis stressed that Ukraine had achieved exceptional successes at the Vilnius meeting of Alliance leaders.
"Not everybody can express their opinion so openly - I was a bit more open. Of course, I am disappointed with the results, but steps have been taken in that direction. The word "invitation" was used, and the NATO Action Plan was taken out. These are steps in a direction that no other candidate country could boast of at the moment. Ukraine is making exceptional progress", explained the head of the Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee.
He added that Ukraine and Lithuania's expectations of being a belligerent state in NATO today are "completely in line".
"We were the first Parliament inside NATO to raise this expectation, to support such a request by President Zelensky simply. I think that our interests and the interests of the Ukrainians are completely aligned at the moment, and the rhetoric - I won't mention names - that tries to say that our interests are more important than Ukraine's - I don't think so.
If Ukraine were to become a member of NATO, our long-term foreign and national security interests would be met. We are their voice before they join", Pavilionis told lrytas.lt.
Last week's NATO meeting in Vilnius focused on Ukraine's NATO membership. Kyiv had hoped to get a clear signal on the prospect of membership, but Western leaders stressed even before the start of the Vilnius meeting that Ukraine would not be allowed to join the ranks of NATO if the war continued.
After lengthy negotiations on the wording of Kyiv's transatlantic perspective in the summit communiqué, the Alliance confirmed that "Ukraine's future lies in NATO".
It also agreed to abandon the Membership Action Plan (MAP), confirming long-term military support. It was also agreed to establish a NATO-Ukraine Council formally and to tighten bilateral political ties.
However, expectations for an invitation to NATO remained unfulfilled, with the Communication stating that the way would only be open "when the Allies agree and the conditions are met". However, the communiqué does not specify what the latter conditions are.
