The deadly attack on a children's hospital in Ukraine this week was a test for the NATO alliance, warns Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis. He urges NATO to provide Ukraine with the military assistance it needs and to prove to Putin that the alliance is not backing down.
Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis has called on NATO to take action to stop Russian President Vladimir Putin's aggression in Ukraine. Speaking to Fox News Digital, Landsbergis said that the deadly attack on a children's hospital in Kyiv this week was a test for the alliance.
"Attacking a children's hospital in Kyiv during the week of the NATO summit here in Washington clearly sends a political message," Landsbergis said. "He expects us to discuss, and most likely, not to find a way how to address this."
NATO Must Act to Stop Putin, Says Lithuanian Foreign Minister
Landsbergis said that Putin is banking on NATO not to respond due to its concerns that doing so will prompt further escalation between the West and Russia. However, he argued that this is exactly what Putin wants.
"That's enough to send a message to Ukrainians that, look, your friends in the West cannot do much for you," Landsbergis said. "Even your children, those who are suffering from cancer in a hospital, cannot be protected."
NATO Must Act to Stop Putin, Says Lithuanian Foreign Minister
The foreign minister urged his colleagues in the NATO alliance to use this week's summit to provide Ukraine with not only the military assistance it needs, but also to demonstrate to Putin that the alliance is not backing down.
"There has to be a price on Putin's escalation," Landsbergis said. "You cannot just play on defense and expect the other side to somehow stop."
NATO Must Act to Stop Putin, Says Lithuanian Foreign Minister
Landsbergis's comments come after Russia struck a children's hospital in Kyiv on Monday, killing at least two people and injuring some 50 others. The images of sick children, some with hair missing from chemotherapy and radiation treatments, being held by caregivers with blood running down their faces and bodies, shocked the world.
In a statement to the U.N. Security Council Tuesday, Ukrainian Ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya said that evidence suggested the children's hospital was deliberately struck by a Kh-101 cruise missile while children were receiving treatment, including three open-heart surgeries that were underway at the time of the attack.
NATO Must Act to Stop Putin, Says Lithuanian Foreign Minister
The U.S. has implemented bans on all U.S.-made missiles being used to strike targets in Russia, though an exception was granted for military targets near the Kharkiv border. Landsbergis and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg have urged all nations to abandon strike-based stipulations as the capability would enable Kyiv to hit airfields, arms depots and vessels off the coast of Ukraine.
However, the White House said Monday that despite the repeated deadly attacks on Ukrainian civilians, there would be no changes to the U.S.'s policy. This has prompted a sense of growing frustration with Washington ahead of the summit.
A source involved with the NATO talks confirmed that several allies, including the U.S., are unwilling to change their position when it comes to countering Putin, despite repeated urging from Ukraine and fellow NATO nations.
"This could definitely be an opportunity to push back, if the U.S. will allow additional targets to be targeted inside Russia," the source said. "But so far, I don't see any signs of any movement in that direction."
Washington's refusal to heighten its response to Putin's aggression also means that Ukraine is unlikely to see a concrete path to membership, despite reports suggesting that NATO's communiqué will use targeted language like "irreversible" to describe Kyiv's ability to join.
"The sense from the U.S. is that there is a 100 percent understanding that any real move closer to NATO for Ukraine is an escalation," the source confirmed.
Landsbergis said that NATO must not allow Putin to dictate the terms of the conflict in Ukraine. He urged the alliance to provide Ukraine with the support it needs to defend itself and to send a clear message to Putin that his aggression will not be tolerated.
"We have to meet him, or assist Ukrainians to meet him," Landsbergis said. "Otherwise, we will not have peace in Europe."
