Will the conflict in Gaza weaken support to Kyiv? Lithuanian PM Ingrida Simonyte | Conflict Zone

It’s natural that the conflict between Hamas and Israel is drawing more attention right now, says Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte. But she is confident the conflict in the Middle East will not diminish Western support for Kyiv. At least “right now.”

Speaking to DW’s Tim Sebastian, Simonyte also said it is crucial that both military and financial support to Ukraine continue to flow. She said campaign rhetoric over support to Ukraine should be understand in the context of election cycles.

“There is a bet from Putin on electoral changes in many countries.”

Simonyte said she supported NATO and EU membership for Ukraine, but that both organizations required consensus. On her own potential candidacy to head NATO, she demurred. The prime minister downplayed the dispute between Lithuania and China over the opening of Taiwanese representation in Vilnius. She also said illegal migration across the border of Belarus was being exploited by authoritarian regime in Minsk but did not deny Lithuanian border guards had pushed back people thousands of times in recent years.

Chapters:

00:00 Intro

01:10 Will Gaza divert from war in Ukraine?

03:20 Europe needs to build defense capabilities

04:15 State of offensives and counter-offensives from Ukraine & Russia

05:59 Future of NATO unity

08:44 Ukraine membership in NATO & EU

10:30 Zelenskyy at Vilnius summit

12:48 Putin’s bet on electoral changes

13:45 Defense planning in Baltics

16:50 Article V in wake of Russia’s invasion & critical infrastructure

20:30 Pushbacks of migrants to Belarus

23:30 Taiwanese office in Latvia, relations with China

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Видео Will the conflict in Gaza weaken support to Kyiv? Lithuanian PM Ingrida Simonyte | Conflict Zone канала DW News