Lithuanian president urges 'coalition of the willing' to speed up military aid to Ukraine

VILNIUS - Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda on Thursday called on the so-called "coalition of the willing" to accelerate the delivery of military support to Ukraine, his office said.

"Ukraine's armed forces need equipment immediately, including direct procurement from Ukraine's defense industry. Any settlements that are not backed by the deployment of a security reassurance force in Ukraine will be broken by the Kremlin. Europe must act now. Let's act urgently," it quoted the president as saying at the coalition's summit in Paris.

French President Emmanuel Macron initiated the meeting to discuss support and security guarantees for Ukraine.

Nauseda said that strengthening Ukraine's armed forces and continuing military assistance are key to deterring Russia, urging coalition members to review their priorities and speed up the delivery of military aid.

He also emphasized that "a European-led security reassurance force in Ukraine is a necessity".

The force "must be credible, sufficiently numerous, with clear rules of engagement and a well-defined mandate", he said, adding that it is also important to ensure "the United States' active involvement in implementing security guarantees".

Both Macron and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer have said they are ready to deploy troops to Ukraine.

Meanwhile, Russia has repeatedly said that it will not accept the presence of NATO troops on Ukrainian territory, while Washington has given no indication that it is willing to provide security guarantees by deploying ground forces.

"Negotiations on Russia's terms would pose a direct threat to the European security architecture. Russia is and will remain an existential threat even after the peace talks," Nauseda said in Paris.

"Any ceasefire agreement must be accompanied by strong security guarantees for Ukraine. Effective ceasefire monitoring and verification mechanisms, including measures for determining accountability, must be ensured," he added.

The Lithuanian president "further emphasized that Ukraine's accelerated accession to the European Union - by 2030 at the latest - could serve as a key security guarantee for both Ukraine and the EU", according to the press release.

More than 20 European and international leaders are taking part in the "coalition of the willing" meeting in Paris.