Russian President Vladimir Putin must be defeated on the battlefield, a faster way to ensure his defeat than by imposing sanctions, former Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaitein told CNBC on Wednesday. Putin’s photo here is seen cut with bullet holes during a shooting exercise by a Ukrainian soldier in Kyiv in May.
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It is important to defeat Russian President Vladimir Putin on the battlefield in Ukraine, as international sanctions alone will not work, former Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaitė told CNBC.
“From the very beginning of the war [have] I said that [Putin] understands only the language of power and can be stopped [only] on the battlefield – not through sanctions, “she said Wednesday.
“Sanctions [are] painful for all of us and for them [effect takes] longer; [the] the effect on the battlefield is faster, “she said, adding that NATO must provide Ukraine with the appropriate, fast and necessary equipment to make this war as short as possible.
Failure to do so will only prolong the war, she said.
She welcomed NATO’s decision to identify Russia as a direct threat as a “huge step forward”.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said in Madrid on Monday that the alliance would adopt a new “strategic concept” for the first time in more than a decade to clarify its support for Ukraine.
“We will make it clear that Russia is a direct threat to our security,” Stoltenberg said before announcing his strategic plan.
“We will change everything, starting with [reorienting our] defense protection plans [every] an inch of our land everywhere along the border, “Grybauskaitė told CNBC Capital Connection in Vilnius, the Lithuanian capital.
Earlier in June, Lithuania, a member of the European Union, banned the transit of certain goods, such as steel and ferrous metals, coming from Russia to its Kaliningrad exclave on the Baltic Sea.
The move significantly raised tensions and sparked a series of angry remarks from Moscow condemning it as illegal.
“We are not afraid of that,” she said, given Russia’s threats to her country.
Referring to NATO’s new position on Russia, she said: “We wanted such changes after the occupation of Crimea in 2014. But it was very difficult to convince our partners. But now Putin [himself] is convinced [them]”
“We are ready to go [ahead] very seriously, “the former Lithuanian president said, adding that these steps were needed” yesterday “.
“Thank God we will have them today,” she added.
Grybauskaite also said that China, as an economic giant, cannot be ignored.
“We have to learn how to live with them [China]how to influence [it] and how to protect ourselves, but these are many nuances, “she said.
Stoltenberg also told a news conference that the Alliance’s strategic document would address China for the first time, as well as “the challenges that Beijing poses to our security, interests and values.”
– St. Eliat of CNBC contributed to this report.
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