President of Lithuania warns against separating paths of Ukraine, Moldova to EU membership

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda warned against separating the paths of Ukraine and Moldova to EU membership, as this would have "catastrophic consequences" for the opinion of Ukrainian society.

At a press conference with his Finnish counterpart Alexander Stubb in Helsinki on Tuesday, Nauseda stressed that Lithuania is a "very big supporter" of Ukraine's course towards membership in the European Union.

"And that is why we argue and invite our colleagues in the European Council to decide on the opening of the first cluster of negotiations and the opening of the remaining clusters or fundamental clusters in 2025. I believe that it is very important to connect the path to membership of both countries, Moldova and Ukraine, since the separation of these two countries would have catastrophic consequences for the opinion of Ukrainian society," the president said.

He also noted that Lithuania is one of "the most loyal supporters of Ukraine, not only militarily, but also politically," and the country agreed to spend at least 0.25% of GDP in support of Ukraine.

"But in fact, if we look back, we invest even more, up to 0.3% of our GDP," Nauseda added.