Ukraine buying us time “at cost of its own blood”, Lithuanian President

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda has warned that Europe cannot afford to delay action on Ukraine, stressing that the country is “buying us precious time every day at the cost of its own blood.”

Speaking in Brussels ahead of a special European Council meeting, Nausėda urged EU leaders to move swiftly in strengthening support for Kyiv. “It would be very irresponsible to waste this time and hold long discussions without a clear result,” he said.

He called for more flexibility in defense spending rules and backed setting a political timeline for Ukraine’s EU accession. Nausėda also described French President Emmanuel Macron’s idea of expanding France’s nuclear umbrella as a “very serious deterrent against Russia.”

The European Council is meeting to discuss military aid for Ukraine, security policy, and the EU’s strategic direction.