In defense of Baltic, President Trump forced Europe to arm itself and “Jad” over the defense after years of overcoming the Biden administration.
Vaidotas Urbes, Director of Defense Policy at the Ministry of Defense in Lithuania, warned that Russia only understands negotiating a “pistol on the table” – and that Europe should maintain pressure on the Kremlin.
“Europe must be primarily responsible for the European defense.”.
Speaking from Warsaw, the capital, Poland, Urbeis praised Trump for “speeding up things” and trying to end the war in Ukraine after years of “late decisions” during the era of former President Joe Biden.
“What the current American administration is doing, I think very successful, is to accelerate things,” he said. “In political life, people tend to delay the decision -” well, perhaps we will do so after one year, perhaps after two years. “
“The current language of the American administration says to Europe,” I do it now, make decisions at the present time, because this is your responsibility. “
Urbeis added: “So I would like to say that the main threat here is, so everyone understands it, but the speed and urgency of making things happen, which has changed.”
Lithuania, a country with a number of 3 million people who determine a Russian displacement in Kaliningrad and the pro -Bottin system in Belarus, pledged in January to enhance its defensive spending up to 6 % of its gross domestic product by next year.
Quoting the “Russian military aggression”, President Gitanas Nawasda announced the “historical decision”, as his country became the first country in NATO to register Trump's call to all member states to reach 5 % of defensive spending. The country spends a little more than 3 % of the GDP of defense.
The Baltic countries in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania – which were previously part of the Soviet Union – were among the most aggressive NATO members in intensifying their defensive capabilities because they view themselves as the most vulnerable goals in Russia's aggression.
But even together, their spending is just a decrease in the bucket due to their young residents. All of them collected about $ 5.2 billion for defense in 2024 – less than half the cost of one American aircraft carrier.
There is no one of the countries even a single fighter plane.
As a result, urbeis calls for a unified front against Russia.
He said warnings that the only way to negotiate with Russia is a “gun on the table”, as defined by Lithuania Dovelian defense in an interview with Fox News this week.
“When you speak to Russia, it is not like regular negotiations, to make something, and your opponent offers concessions and agrees in the middle,” explained Urbeis.
It is not the way Russia is negotiating. If you offer something, they will ask for more. If you make concessions, they understand this as a sign of weakness. That is why you should pressure them, militarily, economically, financially, so that they agree on an acceptable solution for everyone. This is what we mean by negotiating by obtaining a weapon on the table, because they do not understand the language. “
“North Europe is moving very quickly,” said Urbeis. Sweden, Finland, Denmark, the United Kingdom, because we are more exposed and know the meaning of Russia. We lived with the Russians for several centuries. We know how to behave and how they negotiate. “
But he warned that the rest of the continent needed to catch up with a knee.
The most important type of test will be the numbers. What countries were placed on the table. “If we are still less than 2 % [of GDP]This is not dangerous. ”
At the same time, he stressed the unit, adding: “We should not sacrifice unity. Because what Russia wants is the NATO division.”
The question now turns into what the United States’s participation in the peace agreement in Ukraine may seem to be, and whether NATO will be ready to put shoes on the ground in Ukraine, and what this force might seem.
Urbeis said: “What is more important not only the number of forces, but what are the rules of engagement.” “If someone is to involve these forces, the response should be immediate and violent.
For this reason, we need the largest possible number of countries and a kind of participation. People use this word, for us. But the Russians will not dare violate this agreement because what Russia is good in violating all the tools of stopping and all peace deals. ”
“So not for a second, we can assume that the Russians will respect the ceasefire or peace agreement. Not for a second.”
