Lithuanian Prime Minister Gintautas Paluckas says that Russia’s proposal to freeze the front line in Ukraine and other conditions for peace “doubtful”, saying Kyiv will not accept them. Meanwhile, President Gitanas Nausėda called the proposal “a trap”.
“We think the proposal is very doubtful,” Paluckas said on Wednesday. “The Ukrainian president has already expressed doubts, and I have no doubt that the Ukrainian people won’t agree to such conditions either.”
The comment came amid Western media reports that Moscow’s proposed conditions include Ukraine’s neutrality and that US President Donald Trump is ready to recognise Russia’s annexation of Crimea.
The Lithuanian prime minister expressed scepticism that accepting such a proposal would stop Russia. He added that, under favourable circumstances, it could even encourage the Kremlin to seize more territory.
“Lithuania’s position won’t differ from Ukraine’s. I'm not sure if Ukrainians, their people, can make the decision to cede their territory in the first place,” Paluckas said.
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda earlier said that Russia’s proposals were an attempt to lure Kyiv and the West into a trap.
“This is an ongoing process of smokescreens, deception and luring into a trap, which Russia started quite a while ago. And I think that all the parties involved in the process now understand very well what Russia’s motives are,” he told reporters in Vilnius on Wednesday.
Lithuanian Defence Minister Dovilė Šakalienė said that the situation remained unchanged from a few months ago.
She added that at best, some ceasefire conditions could be expected, but that would accelerate the expansion of Russian forces and the development of their capabilities.
Ukraine peace talks involving international foreign ministers, scheduled in London for Wednesday, have been postponed, but a meeting of lower-level officials will still take place.
Ahead of the talks, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday rejected the idea of Ukraine ceding territory to Russia as part of any potential peace deal.
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