Lithuanian President says some EU leaders still trust Putin

Two European leaders still trust Putin, said Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda in an interview with Politico. “At least I don’t see leaders who want to call Putin to talk about the issues in Ukraine. We do not have any leader who still trusts Putin, apart from two.”

Politico suggests that Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Slovak counterpart Robert Fico are the leaders referred to.

At the EU leaders’ level, there is an understanding that Russia must suffer defeat in Ukraine, as otherwise, “there will be a continuation of this tragic story,” added the Lithuanian president.

Russia threatens and challenges all democracies in Europe. “All included: Germany, France, Spain, and even Portugal, which is pretty far away from the frontline,” emphasized Nausėda.

Nausėda is optimistic that he, along with other European leaders, can sway the opinions of EU members who currently are skeptical about the Russian threat and question the necessity of securing Russia’s defeat in the conflict.

“If [Russia] will break the first defense line [in Ukraine], they will enter and that they will go after us and that there will be second defense line,” said the Lithuanian president.

Earlier, experts from the Institute for the Study of War emphasized that the Kremlin continues to create a coalition against Western countries. Russia is developing bilateral relations with China, Iran, and North Korea.