Sanctions will not stop Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, former Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaitė has said, adding that only a war could do that.
“Sanctions will not stop Putin, whatever they may be. They are necessary, but without any exceptions such as those we see in SWIFT cut-offs or the energy sector and the banks that serve it...” Grybauskaitė said in a press release.
“Only a war that has already been launched can stop another war. There is no need to pretend and try to appease our conscience by supplying Ukraine with nothing but arms, and too late at that. The people of Ukraine are fighting the war for us,” she added.
The repeated statements that NATO cannot help Ukraine sound “pathetic and show the cowardice of the West”, according to Grybauskaitė.
“Although it is learning fast, the West still does not understand that there is a European war going on in Ukraine. Either you participate in it and fight the aggressor or become an accomplice to war crimes by just standing and watching Ukraine and its people being destroyed. Yes, an accomplice,” she said.
If Russian President Vladimir Putin is not stopped in Ukraine, “we will still have to fight a war, but in our countries”.
“I am ashamed to hear NATO leaders and officials muttering that they 'cannot get involved in a conflict'. But we did it in Syria, Libya, Africa, Yugoslavia, and Afghanistan, didn’t we?” Grybauskaitė said.
“Today, Ukraine is fighting for the survival of its nation and for the peace of Europe,” she added. “Slava Ukraini! Glory be to her heroes, and so far only to her heroes, because there are no others on the horizon.”
Newsletter
Every Friday morning.
