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On 3 April, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania, Kęstutis Budrys, is attending a meeting of NATO Foreign Ministers in Brussels to discuss the priorities of the forthcoming Summit in The Hague, including ensuring defence and deterrence, and the importance of increasing defence spending.

Before the meeting, the head of Lithuania's diplomacy told journalists that this was a strategic moment and the decisions taken today would determine the security situation of tomorrow.

“Strengthening defence and increasing defence spending means we have to invest more. The current levels of our defense expenditure are too low to achieve the desired results. So at The Hague summit, we have to at least double our baseline defense spending from 2% up to 4% of GDP,” said Budrys.

According to the Minister, already this year Lithuania is spending 4% of its GDP on defence, and next year the figure will be raised to 5.25%.

When speaking about Ukraine, the Minister said that it was important to seek a just and lasting peace and stressed that the question of Ukraine's NATO membership must remain on the table, because this is the most direct way to provide effective security guarantees.

“Russia does not want peace, it wants Ukraine, it wants to subjugate Ukraine and other neighbors,” said Budrys.

He also expressed his condolences over the deaths of U.S. soldiers in Pabradė.

Doorstep statement by Lithuania's Minister of Foreign Affairs ahead of the NATO Foreign Ministers' meeting: https://www.natomultimedia.tv/app/asset/718666?s=budrys