
Secretary Antony J. Blinken and Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis at a Joint Press Availability
03/07/2022
Secretary Antony J. Blinken and Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis at a Joint Press Availability03/07/2022 08:55 AM EST
Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State
Vilnius, Lithuania
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
FOREIGN MINISTER LANDSBERGIS: (Via interpreter) Colleagues, good morning. I’m delighted with the opportunity to welcome the U.S. State Secretary and a good friend of mine, Antony Blinken, in Lithuania. We had an opportunity to discuss key and most concerning issues, including Russian war against Ukraine and further actions in support to Ukraine, and how we should strengthen the security of Lithuanian and the entire region. The Untied States, Lithuania, and other partners of the alliance are doing a lot, but we cannot stop. We cannot afford for Ukrainian cities to become another Srebrenica, Grozny, or Aleppo.
Providing assistance to Ukraine has to continue. We have to urge our partners to check their inventories to increase their orders and continue supplying assistance to Ukraine that it needs so much. The Russia initiated war also means humanitarian as well as climate crisis, and we have to do everything that is possible to prevent the humanitarian corridors and safe areas around nuclear power plants from becoming targets of Russian war machine. I’m happy that the U.S. is increasing its presence in the Baltic region in troops and in equipment. U.S. troops are protecting our country, together with other NATO partners. We know that the commitments of our – of the Allies are ironclad, and if we want to continue building even stronger NATO, politically stronger, we need to ensure security of the Baltic states.
Russian economic blockade has not reached total isolation level, and we heard that there were attempts to use unsanctioned banks to evade the already-existing sanctions. So we have to close all the possible gaps. And energy resources that we are using allows Russia to fund its military operation, and we cannot pay for oil and gas with Ukrainian blood. The U.S. stands with Lithuania and the Baltic states. The United States stand here with their commitments, with their troops and capabilities. They are here in reality and not in front of a green screen with the fake microphones.
Together – I’m sorry – today, the Secretary’s visit shows once again that United States stands with Lithuania and the Baltic states, and it also stands with Ukraine and its people.
SECRETARY BLINKEN: Thank you very, very much. Gabrielius, thank you so much for the warm welcome. It’s been a real pleasure to be here to be able to spend time with the president, with the prime minister, and with you. And I just have to say for starts, on a personal note, how much I appreciate you as a colleague, how much I appreciate the strength of your voice, your conviction in our own relationship, at NATO, throughout Europe. It makes a big difference, and it’s greatly appreciated. And I’m pleased to be here with our ambassador to Lithuania, Bob Gilchrist, who’s been a terrific leader for the team that I was able to meet with this morning before meeting with our colleagues in the government.
We’re celebrating, the United States and Lithuania, 100 years of diplomatic relations this year. We’re NATO Allies. We’re economic partners. And we share together a deep commitment to democracy, to human rights, to the international rules-based order, which we recognize is the foundation of our shared security and which is being directly threatened by Russia’s unprovoked, unjustified war against Ukraine.
Lithuanians understand the critical importance of every nation’s sovereignty and territorial integrity being respected, having lived through decades of Soviet occupation, a forceful occupation that the United States always refused to recognize. In recent years, Moscow has sought to undermine Lithuania’s democracy and sow polarization within its population through cyber attacks and disinformation campaigns. That’s because the free, open, vibrant, prosperous society that the people of Lithuania have built since the end of Soviet occupation shows what’s possible when people choose the path of democracy over autocracy. That’s why the United States supported and advocated for Lithuania’s membership in NATO and the European Union; and this country, Lithuania, has consistently made outsized contributions to both organizations.