The Foreign Minister of Lithuania Kasytutis Budris considers the US decision to stop the support of Ukraine as an impulse for the European Union (EU) to act faster, according to the LRT portal.
“The United States has repeatedly called on Europe to increase military assistance to Ukraine, including since the beginning of peace negotiations,” said the head of Lithuanian diplomacy.
Budrisa noted that this week European leaders will gather for a meeting to resolve this issue.
“This is the time when it is necessary to lay out money on the table, decisions – on the table. Europe can replace the United States in support of Ukraine,” the minister said.
According to him, the EU must also continue negotiations with the United States so that Washington resumes Kyiv’s support.
“If there is a desire to take certain weapons or ammunition, (we must discuss) how we can do this systematically, and not by strict termination, without weakening the ability of Ukraine to defend ourselves,” he said.
Assistance package for Ukraine in the amount of 20 billion euros
It is reported that on Thursday in Brussels a special meeting of the European Council will be held to discuss the assistance of Ukraine and European security.
However, according to Western media reports, Hungary intends to block a packet of assistance for Ukraine in the amount of 20 billion euros.
According to Budris, such steps of Budapest will not become unexpected.
“We know about these obstacles. Yes, this is a serious obstacle, but this is not an irresistible obstacle, because if it were an insurmountable obstacle, we could begin to gradually diverge in the EU, because this means that our organization is not able to make decisions at a critical, crisis moment,” the minister said.
According to the Lithuanian diplomat, additional assistance to Ukraine may not be provided with a joint decision of the EU, but through certain support packages from individual states.
“As for the assistance of Ukraine, we can apply this, not necessarily in the EU-27, we can in the EU-25, because next to Hungary there is another doubtful state. 25 countries can quit this money and transfer this package to Ukraine,” said the Foreign Minister.