Trump praised at UN as Lithuania’s Nausėda warns Putin respects only strength

NEW YORK — Lithuania’s president praised Donald Trump’s address to the United Nations as strong, emphasizing border protection and deterrence in a high-level week that also spotlighted the Baltic state’s concerns about Moscow’s aggression. In an exclusive interview conducted outside the United Nations General Assembly, President Gitanas Nausėda said the independent Baltic nation has to control its borders, pointing to Lithuania’s 422-mile border with Belarus and 161 miles with Russia’s Kaliningrad enclave. “The independent state has to control the border,” Nausėda said, describing the country’s fence and a modern surveillance system that he said keeps Lithuania safe and helps it push back migrants arriving at the frontier.

Našėda also expressed support for the tougher line toward Russia endorsed by the Trump administration, calling the former president’s UN speech “strong” and stressing that leverage could pressure Vladimir Putin to negotiate from a position of strength. “Having the leverage that President Donald Trump has — he will be able to press Vladimir Putin to come to the negotiation table because we can do it only by proving our strength,” Nausėda said, adding that the United States’ stance helps European nations keep Russia accountable. He applauded Trump’s push for European sanctions on Russia and for secondary sanctions on buyers of Russian oil and gas, arguing that there should be no tradeoff between security and economic concerns. “There shouldn’t be a tradeoff between economic benefits and geopolitical goals because we are talking about our security,” Nausėda said, noting that Lithuania halted imports of Russian oil and gas two months after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “If we pay for Russian gas or oil today, tomorrow we might be attacked because this money fuels Russia’s war machine.”

Nausėda warned that Putin is not ready for peace in Ukraine, citing what he described as Moscow’s “old imperialist ambitions.” He argued that only credible deterrence will force Moscow to the negotiating table and that Western leaders should reject appeasement. “We do not believe in appeasement,” Nausėda said, stressing that past attempts to talk with Putin without a credible show of strength have failed. He urged Europe to maintain and strengthen deterrence, saying Lithuania is prepared to spend more on defense and seeking to reach five to six percent of gross domestic product on defense starting in 2026 rather than accepting a far slower pace toward 2035. “2035 is not okay for us. We want to spend between 5 and 6% starting in 2026,” he said. He also noted that, in March, Lithuania’s defense minister, Dovilė Šakalienė, told Fox News the only way to negotiate with Putin is with a “gun on the table.” He added that roughly one-fifth of Lithuania’s military procurement goes to American weapons, underscoring the country’s deepening defense partnership with the United States.

The Lithuanian president also highlighted deterrence as a cornerstone of its defense posture, saying Vilnius would act if NATO airspace were violated again, pointing to a recent incident in which three Russian MiG-31 Foxhounds breached airspace over Estonia, a fellow Baltic state. He said Lithuania would respond decisively to any intrusion and emphasized that the alliance must be capable of deterring aggression in the region. Lithuania, along with its Baltic neighbors, has also moved to modify its security laws by exiting the Ottawa Convention, enabling it to deploy anti-personnel landmines as part of its border fortifications against Russia and Belarus.

Nausėda also framed the U.S. role as essential to maintaining regional security. With roughly 1,200 American soldiers stationed in Lithuania, he said Washington’s presence strengthens deterrence. He noted the I March training accident in which four soldiers were killed, saying the troops received full military honors in Vilnius, and he stressed the importance of continued U.S. security support as part of a broader NATO effort to safeguard the Baltic region. He added that Lithuania remains committed to building interoperability with American forces and to ensuring continued access to U.S. defense capabilities as part of a shared security framework.

Beyond military matters, Nausėda’s UN remarks touched on sanctions and energy policy as a key to future European security. He urged European Union members to align on sanctions and to cut financial ties that sustain Moscow’s war machine, arguing that the war in Ukraine requires a unified front and steadfast implementation of economic pressure.

Trump’s remarks at the UN General Assembly were followed by a social media post in which he argued that Ukraine can win the war and regain territory “in its original form” and characterized Russia as a “paper tiger” in some contexts. Nausėda’s praise of Trump’s stance at the UN underscores a broader Baltic emphasis on close security coordination with the United States, including a continued push for higher defense spending and deeper defense ties in the NATO framework.

As the UN gathering proceeded, analysts noted that Nausėda’s messaging aligned with a wider regional strategy: sustain deterrence, diversify energy sources away from Russia, intensify sanctions pressure, and maintain robust Western unity in the face of Moscow’s aggression. The Baltic states have been at the forefront of calls for stronger collective defense and for ensuring that NATO remains ready to deter and, if necessary, respond to any threat along Europe’s eastern flank.

As the UN session moved forward, Nausėda’s remarks and Trump’s concurrent statements reflected a shared emphasis on deterrence, sanctions, and energy security as essential tools for maintaining European stability in a volatile security environment. Lithuania’s approach—fostering strong U.S. defense ties, reinforcing its own border controls, and pressing for sustained investment in defense—appears to be part of a broader bloc-wide effort to ensure that Moscow cannot easily project power on its European periphery.