Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda has said there was “nothing personal” in the decision to not invite Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis to the meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the Presidential Palace on Wednesday.
“There was nothing personal here, and I would suggest not making any big generalisations from this,” Nausėda told reporters on Friday.
The President’s Office said earlier that the meeting between the Lithuanian and Ukrainian leaders focused on military assistance, therefore, Defence Minister Arvydas Anušauskas was invited to attend.
“With Zelensky, we talked about military aid and cooperation in strengthening the defence industry, so the defence minister simply better reflected the content of that meeting,” Nausėda reiterated.
The Foreign Ministry argued that Landsbergis had to be invited to the meeting with Zelensky because his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba was present.
In recent weeks, the President’s Office and the Foreign Ministry have been at odds regarding the appointment of an ambassador to Poland, a crucial political partner of Lithuania.
According to the ministry, at least two excellent candidates have been rejected by the president. The President’s Office, meanwhile, says the head of state would like to see a full list of candidates considered for the position.
The Foreign Ministry did not speculate whether this was the reason for not inviting Landsbergis to the meeting with Zelensky.
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