“NATO’s New Defense Strategy and Implications for the Baltic Region and Ukraine”

NATO’s new defense strategy calls for allies to get involved from the first day of a possible conflict, although previously NATO’s approach called for the Baltic states to deter a possible Russian invasion until allied forces arrive.

Lithuanian Army Commander Valdemārs Rupšis described the new NATO plans as fully in line with the country’s expectations.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the new plans will be “more detailed and specific”, while they will continue to be secret so as not to reveal operational details.

During his visit to Vilnius, the Polish Prime Minister expressed confidence that the NATO summit to be held in the Lithuanian capital in July will be important to guarantee the indivisibility of Ukraine.

He added that a few weeks ago, during a meeting with US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamal Harris, he emphasized that “Ukraine’s security has an important level of guarantees” because Ukraine’s security “determines our security.”

As Moravetskii said, it is important to mobilize NATO allies that are geographically further away from Ukraine.

“The stability of Ukraine is very important for the stability and progress of all of Europe,” he added.

Lithuania expects that at the summit in mid-July, NATO leaders will agree on common principles for forward defense, which will form the basis for deploying more soldiers on the eastern flank, commit to allocating at least 2% of the gross domestic product to defense, and agree on Ukraine’s prospects for joining NATO.

NATO officials have emphasized that they cannot focus only on the Baltic states and the eastern flank of the alliance, because the Kremlin is not the only threat and the threat does not exist only on the eastern flank.