“Thus, all the West must do is maintain military and economic support for Ukraine and sanctions on Russia. A firm and principled response against aggression is the only language that Putin understands—and it clearly makes him uncomfortable”

“Things like the war in Ukraine are a good lesson for us, they give us time to ready ourselves. The Ukrainians are buying us time, we need to use that well and prepare”

“Four years into Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine, the risks of public passions taking over and damaging NATO as a whole are too high. NATO’s eastern flank would bear the greatest cost, living as it does in the shadow of war and unable to afford any weakening of the American role in Europe’s security architecture. That is why allies should resist tit-for-tat rhetoric and focus on examples of working together”

“The Lithuanian government is keeping its promise to promote values-oriented diplomacy, which is grounded in an appreciation for diversity, dialogue, mutual understanding and peaceful resolutions of disputes in all domains of international relations”

“The effect of allied support isn’t merely symbolic. Access, basing rights, overflight permissions, maintenance, refueling and logistics are the skeleton of military power. Without them, American operations would become slower, costlier and riskier. Europe may not want political responsibility for another Middle East war. But it remains strategically indispensable to Washington”

“Deterrence must switch to a much more defensive posture, resembling that of the allied presence in West Germany during the Cold War“