Cooperation between Ukraine and NATO will be one of the key issues to be discussed at the upcoming NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda said at the Munich Security Conference in Germany on Friday.
"We need to be ambitious and agree on practical and political measures that would bring Ukraine as close to the alliance as possible," the Lithuanian president said. "When the war ends, and I sincerely believe it will end with Ukrainian victory, Ukraine cannot be left in a grey zone anymore, we cannot risk wars in Europe again."
Addressing state leaders and security experts in Germany, Nausėda stressed that the threat posed by Russia to the continent would not disappear in the future. For this reason, he said, European countries must increase their defence spending.
The Lithuanian leader took part in the public debate together with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and US Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.
Addressing the world leaders, the Lithuanian president also highlighted the main objectives of the forthcoming NATO summit in Vilnius, including the implementation of the principle of forward defence in the Baltic region and on the alliance's eastern flank, the adoption of new defence plans and the increase of defence budgets.
Lithuania wants its allies to agree on a 2-percent-GDP defence floor.
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