Lithuanian Foreign Minister says Western strategy on Ukraine a complete failure

Lithuania has noted the complete failure of the Western countries' strategy on the Ukrainian conflict. This was stated by Gabrielius Landsbergis, the foreign minister of the Baltic republic, on November 18.

"We have come to a point where we can say that our strategy of helping Ukraine for almost 1,000 days [of the conflict] has failed. Peaceful settlement through de-escalation is a failed strategy. We need a new strategy based on force," his words are quoted on the agency's website.

According to the politician, the West should lift all restrictions on Ukraine's use of Western weapons, including strikes deep into Russian territory.

"No restrictions other than international law should be imposed on Ukraine, and it should be supplied with sufficient arms. So in principle [the US decision to lift restrictions] is a good decision. I am glad that it has finally been adopted," Landsbergis added.

The Lithuanian foreign minister also expressed hope that "security guarantees for Ukraine will become possible as soon as possible."

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On the same day, European Union (EU) diplomatic chief Josep Borrell said at a meeting in Brussels that the association's foreign and defense ministers would discuss lifting restrictions on strikes deep into Russia with European weapons. He specified that the discussion will take place in the next two days.

A day earlier, The New York Times reported that incumbent U.S. President Joe Biden authorized the use of U.S. long-range ATACMS missiles for strikes on Russian territory. At the same time, the presidential administration did not comment on these data.

Prior to that, on November 15, Professor John Mearsheimer in an interview with YouTube channel Judging Freedom noted that the US plan to strike Russia's territory with the help of Ukraine has failed, as well as Washington's hopes to weaken the Russian army. The professor noted that Russia continues to advance on the battlefield, and the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) cannot influence the course of hostilities in any way.

Commenting on these discussions, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on November 18 that Ukraine's possible permission to use US long-range ATACMS missiles to strike deep into Russia would be a qualitatively new round of tension. According to him, the Russian side drew attention to the publications where such authorization was reported with reference to unofficial sources.

The Kremlin spokesman emphasized that Moscow 's position on such steps is clear to everyone, and the relevant signals voiced by Russian President Vladimir Putin were considered by the collective West.

Western countries have stepped up military and financial support for Ukraine amid Russia's special operation to protect Donbass, which began on February 24, 2022. The decision to conduct it was taken by the Russian president because of the aggravation of the situation in the region due to the increased shelling by Ukrainian troops.