Saulius Skvernelis, the speaker of the Lithuanian parliament Seimas, says that the talks between the United States and Ukraine in Saudi Arabia “bring optimism”.
“The negotiations that are taking place bring optimism,” Skvernelis told the radio Žinių Radijas on Wednesday.
“Now the ball is definitely in Russia’s court and maybe this will open the eyes of the Americans as to what Russia’s reactions are to what happened in the negotiations,” he added.
The Ukrainians, after talks with US officials, agreed to Washington’s proposal for a 30-day ceasefire.
The US, for its part, agreed to lift restrictions on military aid and intelligence sharing, according to a joint statement by both countries.
US President Donald Trump says he is to speak to Vladimir Putin this week and said that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is welcome at the White House, despite their fiery interaction a few weeks ago.
Skvernelis said that it was important that peace in Ukraine was achieved “not at the expense of the victim”.
“There is no need for difficult negotiations in such conditions – Ukraine can capitulate even under the conditions that exist,” the Seimas speaker said.
He said that he had discussed the situation with Ruslan Stefanchuk, speaker of the Ukrainian parliament, who had visited Lithuania in recent days.
“Ukraine is determined to defend itself, it will certainly not capitulate, but whether the world and European countries will do their utmost to ensure that it can achieve peace on the right terms is up to us,” said Skvernelis.
“But there is no mood of despair, panic or defeatism on Ukraine’s side,” he said.
European Union and national leaders welcomed the agreements reached between the US and Ukraine and said it was now time for Russia to show its commitment to peace.
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