Naouseda warned against negotiations on Ukraine without Kyiv's participation — LRT

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda criticized the Kremlin’s idea of holding trilateral talks between Russia, China, and the United States on ending the Russian-Ukrainian war without Ukraine’s participation. In his view, such a format would resemble a division of spheres of influence among the major powers.

 

The Lithuanian president is convinced that Ukraine must participate in negotiations to end the war started by Russia, and that meeting formats without Ukrainian representatives raise suspicions about a possible division of spheres of influence.

“Ukraine itself must participate in the negotiations; therefore, the formats proposed by Russia itself—for example, a format involving China, the U.S., and Russia—raise suspicions that the scenario of World War II could repeat itself and that a division into spheres of influence could occur. This is causing great concern throughout the region,” Nauseda stated.

According to him, China cannot be a fully impartial mediator in the negotiations as long as it remains an ally of Russia in the war against Ukraine.

Nausėda noted that a representative from Europe should also participate in the negotiations to end the Russian-Ukrainian war. He said that European Council President António Costa could represent the EU’s interests.

“Ending the war will have a profound impact on security and the overall economic and social situation across the entire European continent, so the participation of European representatives in the negotiations would be entirely natural, but to ensure this, we must establish very clear criteria,” said the Lithuanian president.

“Many names have been mentioned, but one criterion is particularly important—such a person must have a mandate from all 27 EU member states. Currently, such an official mandate has been granted to António Costa. Therefore, there is likely no need for any additional mandate,” the president explained.

Nausėda added that Russia will resist any European involvement in the negotiations, so the continent’s representatives must make additional diplomatic efforts.

Source: LRT

We should add that the Trump administration plans to change the format of the negotiations regarding Ukraine.

Earlier, Kushner reported encouraging progress in the peace negotiations regarding Ukraine.

Prior to this, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and U.S. Special Representative Steve Witkoff began talks in Oslo, the capital of Norway.