After the first day of the NATO Summit, the country's president said that the work on communication was still ongoing.
„On Ukraine, it was agreed that the communication will reflect the principle of irreversibility, that Ukraine's integration into NATO is an irreversible process and a kind of bridge from the current situation to future membership.
Of course, for those who want an invitation here and now, this is too little, but it is a compromise that NATO could offer to the Ukrainians, and the Ukrainian side agrees with this text's wording, „ said Nausėda.
The Head of State mentioned that NATO leaders had agreed on 40 billion dollars of support for Ukraine and innovations in the NATO rotational model of air defence.
„We are moving forward compared to the communication in Vilnius, but Vilnius meeting has been mentioned many times during my talks with the leaders today, that it was a perfect base on which we can build new bricks, a new text,“ the Head of State said.
However, noting that Ukraine will not hear anything more at this meeting than in Vilnius, Nausėda stressed that this is the only compromise that NATO countries can agree on.
„NATO is an organisation that wants to give credibility to Article 5 because that is the whole essence of the NATO system – the principle of collective defence, which must be sacredly respected. (...)
In this respect, it seems that NATO is not prepared to say more than it has said today —in other words, any commitment to Article 5 would mean that measures would have to be taken here and now.
How can this be done when even sending troops to Ukraine is still taboo at NATO level? We can only conclude that this is the best common denominator possible now,“ Nausėda assessed.
„The US position on this issue is critical“, he added.
At the same time, when asked about the background to the NATO summit, which is the confusion prevailing in the US about the health of US President Joe Biden and his chances of seeking re-election, Mr Nausėda assured that Mr Biden looked well.
„Mr Biden looks excellent, and his speech was inspiring. Suppose somebody was looking for some signs of physical weakness. In that case, they must have been disappointed because it was a good speech, it was fundamental, and it was focused on the fact that we are going to support Ukraine and that Putin can't win the war in Ukraine, that Putin is not winning the war in Ukraine, because he is suffering huge losses. He has been fighting, waging war there for much longer than he wanted to,“ he assessed.
In addition, Nausėda noted that the era of NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg is ending.
„He received a significant US award on that occasion and gave an excellent speech himself, proving once again that he is a true leader who is able to find and see every NATO country in the face of so many challenges in NATO.
It is no secret that Jens was also very supportive of Lithuania. We were always looking for a solution, and he was always trying to make sure that the decisions that had to be painfully negotiated at NATO summits were a bit more favourable to the eastern flank of NATO, that is to say, to the needs of all of us,“ Nausėda said.
The Washington NATO Summit takes place on 9–11 July.
