However, Ukraine has Europe’s most experienced military, which would be invaluable to other allies. Kubilius’s call comes as earlier promises to admit Ukraine into NATO wither thanks to resistance from the U.S. and other allies.
Kubilius, a former Lithuanian prime minister, stressed that any Ukrainian deployment would not undermine Germany sending an armored brigade to Lithuania, the presence of U.S. troops in the region and NATO’s Article 5 common defense provision.
“We Lithuanians, we learned in our history that it’s better to have multiple guarantees for your security,” he said, adding that NATO’s Article 5 should be buttressed by the EU’s own security provisions “with a clear mechanism how they will be implemented.”