Lithuanian defense chief: Only armed diplomacy works with russia
"The only good negotiation is when you have a gun on the table," said the head of Lithuania's Ministry of National Defense, Dovilė Šakalienė. She was referring to the ongoing negotiations to end the war in Ukraine.
"In my opinion, the only efficient diplomacy with Russia was what Al Capone said, the only good negotiation is when you have a gun on the table. So that's probably the kind of diplomacy that would work with Russia," said Dovilė Šakalienė, the Lithuanian Defense Minister, in an interview with Fox News.
She added that in Lithuania, no one trusts Putin's words. "Historically, Russia has never ever kept an agreement," the Lithuanian minister emphasized. She expressed hope that Donald Trump would negotiate firmly with his Russian counterpart.
Lithuanian defense minister: Putin plans expansion
According to Šakalienė, Lithuania is consistently intimidated by Russia, leading to increased defense spending. Next year, Vilnius plans to allocate up to 6% of its GDP to armaments. Despite this, Lithuania's potential remains small compared to Russia, which is expanding its army to 1.5 million soldiers. Šakalienė attributes much of Russia's capability to support from Beijing.
Russia is able to boost its military production so efficiently because China is feeding it. It is useful for China to have this war of exhaustion, and also it is useful for China, even though it supplies Russia, to see Russia also lose a lot of its soldiers – a lot of its weapons and equipment – because a weaker Russia is more convenient to China," Šakalienė believes.
She added that Putin has "more imperial expansion plans in his hand." However, she did not specify what those plans might entail during her conversation with Fox News.
Lithuania withdraws from agreement
Recently, Lithuania announced it is withdrawing from the Convention on Cluster Munitions. Šakalienė explained the reasoning behind this decision.
"We want to be ready to use anything and everything necessary to protect our borders. We don't want Russians to come to our homes again. We want to send a strategic message, a very clear message, that we will do anything to protect ourselves," stated the head of Lithuania's Ministry of National Defense.
In conclusion, she emphasized that one cannot underestimate the enemy that is Russia. "This is a mistake," Šakalienė said. "You have to see them for what they are," she added.
