Minister of Defence: if I had the opportunity, I would have declared a no-fly zone over Ukraine long ago

Arvydas Anušauskas, Minister of National Defence, says that if he had the opportunity, he would have long ago complied with the request of the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, and declared a no-fly zone over the war-torn country, Agnė Černiauskaitė writes in lrytas.lt

“Since this is the most frequently asked question, I will say this – if I had the opportunity, I would have declared a no-fly zone a long time ago. But I don’t have that ability,” Anušauskas said regretfully.

The Minister said that he supported the adoption of a resolution by the Seimas. A group of parliamentarians “calls on the UN to take immediate action to enforce the no-fly zone over Ukraine to stop the massive loss of civilian lives”.

“And the appeal is welcome because the word is getting out, and public pressure is building. You look at the polls in the US; there is a lot of popular support for Ukraine and its demands”, he said.

Skvernelis: “It won’t get any worse”

Saulius Skvernelis of the Democratic Group “In the Name of Lithuania” is one of the authors of this resolution. The politician is convinced that Lithuania and the Seimas itself must listen to the demands of the Ukrainian people and urge other European countries to do the same.

“We must, as Lithuania, as a parliament, call for the decisions that struggling Ukraine and its people are asking for. It will not get any worse. But we can only discuss whether the result will be achieved, because, in reality, decisions are taken, I am talking about at European level, quite slowly and take time.

And the war is happening today, and the Ukrainian people – men and women – are fighting today. So we need to listen to their expectations and encourage other European countries to show solidarity”, Skvernelis commented.