During his visit to Ukraine, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda stated that the idea of creating a defense structure that would be an alternative to NATO was counterproductive.
He said this at a press conference after the joint visit of four Presidents to Kyiv, European Truth reports.
"I believe in NATO. Any attempt to create something parallel, similar - can lead to competition between such organizations. It will divide us, disperse our forces. We cannot afford such a luxury. Therefore, we need unity," stated Nauseda. commenting on the idea of creating an alternative system of defense guarantees.
Although Zelenskyy’s question did not specify what the Ukrainian initiative (which is being studied in Ukraine's talks with russia) was about, Nauseda interpreted it this way and said that Ukraine's path to NATO remains the best.
"I believe very firmly - no matter what some partners say there - I believe that sooner or later Ukraine will be in NATO and will have everything that this most powerful defense and security organization in the world can provide," he said.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy argued with his Lithuanian counterpart and reminded him that currently Ukraine is not given guidelines for membership.
"Ukraine will be in NATO when Gitanas Nauseda becomes NATO Secretary General," the Ukrainian president joked. "And we need security guarantees now."
A third of NATO members do not envision Ukraine in the Alliance. According to the President of Ukraine, potential guarantors of our security must give a clear answer about membership. However, he is convinced that Ukraine is not being accepted into NATO because they are afraid of russia.
"Say that they are accepting Ukraine into NATO. Or say: we are not accepting it now. What is true, and they themselves understand, is that they do not want to go to war with russia, so theyare not accepting us. The answer is very simple. We all already understand. We are not being accepted because they are afraid of russia. That's all," he said. "And we need to calm down, say okay, [we need] other security guarantees. There are NATO countries that want to be guarantors of security, which, unfortunately, cannot offer us complete membership in the Alliance, but are ready to do everything that the Alliance would have to do if we were its members," Zelenskyy said in an interview to Western media.