The head of the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry called not to give Russia the right to limit NATO expansion.
Lithuania will reject any agreement on a new security architecture in Europe that would give Russia the right to limit the deployment of NATO troops in the region. This is what Foreign Minister Kęstuti Bodris said, reports LRT with reference to the 15 Minutes portal.
"Lithuania considers as fundamentally unacceptable any consideration of returning to the era of the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe or any other agreement according to which Russia would have the leverage to dictate which forces can be deployed in our region, while at the same time doing whatever it pleases in its own territory," Bodris said.
According to the minister, restrictions on the deployment of allied forces will have existential consequences for Lithuania. Badaris also emphasized that no agreement concerning European security can be concluded without the participation of European countries.
He believes that Lithuania should also participate in the negotiations, since its outcome will mainly affect the country and the entire region along NATO's eastern border. "Lithuania's position is clear: such agreements cannot be considered without our participation, because they will mainly concern us, our region, located right on the border of NATO, and we must be present there," Bodris said.
At the same time, the head of the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry is convinced that the discussion on a new security system in Europe can only begin after a ceasefire in the conflict in Ukraine, an agreement on peace terms and security guarantees for Kiev.