Landsbergis: The West must pay the price for its safety

Translating from the Obozrevatel, Sept. 12:

"Western countries must take decisive steps to ensure Ukraine's security, because this isn't just a matter for our own state. It concerns the overall peace in Europe, and "the Russian threat will not disappear on its own."

This was stated by former Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis. In an interview with Ukrinform, the diplomat said that when communicating with Western audiences, he tries to convey "the true significance and central role of Ukraine."

"You can't just go to bed, wake up in the morning, and think everything is fine. Unfortunately, that won't be the case. Some fundamental things are broken... We're talking about what the world order will be like in the future. We're already experiencing it. If we still think we're living in 2021, we're mistaken; this is already a new world order," he said.

According to the diplomat, when it comes to practical matters, "then these are security guarantees and what real security guarantees mean for Ukraine."

"It's time for us to move away from strategic communications where we say we'll provide security guarantees to Ukraine, but 'only if Putin allows it.' Or that we'll deploy troops, but 'only in western Ukraine, and we'll retreat if Putin attacks again.' We need to counter these ideas with an inconvenient truth—namely, if we want to help Ukraine, we'll have to pay a price, because Ukraine is already paying it for us," Gabrielius Landsbergis noted."