Latest news with #DovilėŠakalienė
The Guardian
5 days ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Ukraine war briefing: Call for Nato action after Russian drone intrudes on Lithuania
Lithuania has called for Nato help to boost its air defences after Russian military drones repeatedly violated its airspace. 'Last Monday, a Russian military drone violated Lithuanian airspace,' said Kęstutis Budrys, the foreign minister in Vilnius. 'This marks the second such incident in less than a month. Similar airspace violations have also been reported recently by other allies.' Budrys added that he and the defence minister, Dovilė Šakalienė, had asked the Nato secretary general for 'immediate measures to enhance air defence capabilities in Lithuania and accelerate the full implementation of the rotational air defence model. Air defence is vital to allied security. Securing Nato's eastern flank must remain a top priority for the alliance.' Amid the nuclear row between Donald Trump and Dmitry Medvedev, the Kremlin has moved to play down the latter's role in Russian decision-making, the Institute for the Study of War has said. The thinktank said Medvedev was subsequently being portrayed as having a 'different assessment' from Putin on nuclear issues. An ISW assessment said: 'The Kremlin regularly uses Medvedev to introduce nuclear threats into the Russian and international information spaces.' Medvedev, a high-ranked official who was once prime minister of Russia, as well as a proxy for Putin in the presidency, accused Trump of taking 'a step towards war' by tightening an ultimatum for Russia to seek peace. Trump in response said he had moved two nuclear submarines into position 'just in case these foolish and inflammatory statements are more than just that'. The ISW further assessed that 'Kremlin officials utilised three main framings to respond to Trump's decision to redeploy the submarines: posing Trump's decision to redeploy the submarines as 'emotional,' discounting the threat that this decision poses to Russia, and posturing Russia as a more responsible international actor than the United States … These official Russian responses ignore the Kremlin's history of frequently using nuclear saber-rattling to push the west to make decisions that benefit Russia. On the battlefield, the ISW said that Ukrainian forces had recently advanced near Pokrovsk, which Russian forces have been trying to capture since at least July 2024. Russian forces recently advanced near Kupyansk, Siversk, Toretsk, and Velykomykhailivka, the institute said. Russian claimed on Tuesday to have captured the village of Sichneve in east-central Dnipropetrovsk region. The Reuters news agency, which carried the claim, said it could not independently confirm it. Donald Trump has said he will make a decision on whether to sanction countries that purchase Russian oil after a meeting with Russian officials scheduled for Wednesday. That is when Steve Witkoff – real estate promoter, friend of Trump and officially his Russia envoy – is due to meet with Russian leadership in Moscow. A Bloomberg report suggested that Putin might agree to a ceasefire in terms of airstrike but not on the ground. Also on Tuesday, the Financial Times reported that Trump's administration is considering additional sanctions on Russia's 'shadow fleet' of oil tankers that illicitly move Russian oil. Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukraine's president, said on Tuesday he'd had a 'productive' conversation with Trump about ending the war, sanctions on Russia and the finalisation of a US-Ukraine drone deal. Ukraine, he said, had long supported US proposals for an immediate ceasefire and had proposed a number of formats to implement a halt to the fighting. 'We have spoken with and proposed to Russia quiet in the skies, no missile and drone attacks and specifically no attacks on civilian infrastructure or on the energy sector. All of this has been violated by the Russians and in a very cynical fashion.' The $300m superyacht of a sanctioned Russian billionaire is being auctioned off. The 348-foot (106-metre) Amadea was seized in Fiji in April 2022 from its former owner, Suleiman Kerimov, and is berthed in San Diego California. The auction is being held by National Maritime Services, a Fort Lauderdale, Florida, company. Sealed bids are being accepted until 10 September subject to a $10m deposit. The US Congress has passed legislation allowing the sale of seized Russian assets to fund humanitarian assistance for Ukraine.
Euronews
02-07-2025
- Politics
- Euronews
Lithuania's defence chief praises campaign about Chinese aggression
A Philippine campaign aimed at exposing what is calls China's aggression in the South China Sea has shattered 'the illusion of China being peaceful and friendly,' Lithuania's defence chief said on Wednesday. Beginning in 2023, the campaign, which Manila calls a "transparency initiative," includes publicising images of China's aggressive actions in the disputed waters. "I believe that, in this case, revealing to the world how China is harassing the Philippine's navy and fishermen of the Philippines in their own waters is very important because it shatters the illusion of China being a peaceful and friendly neighbour," Defence Minister Dovilė Šakalienė said. "It's nothing peaceful when you see water cannons being used against peaceful fishermen and there's nothing peaceful about ramming the ships of Philippines in the territorial waters of the Philippines." Šakalienė expressed support to former Filipino senator Francis Tolentino while in the capital for talks aimed at deepening defence ties between the two countries. Tolentino was sanctioned by China on Tuesday for his strong criticism of Beijing's acts of aggression and for his work on two new laws, which demarcated Philippine territorial zones, including in parts of the South China Sea that Beijing claims. Šakalienė said she and her family had been sanctioned by China and banned from entering the country. "Welcome to the club," Šakalienė said in an interview with a small group of journalists. "Talking about China's crimes is what gets you into the coercion and threats is their usual method of operation," she said. Chinese officials did not immediately comment on Šakalienė's remarks. During President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s administration, which began in mid-2022, the Philippines invited Filipino and foreign journalists to join its coastguard and navy patrols in the disputed South China Sea. They have witnessed an increasingly alarming spike of confrontations in the waters in recent years, with China using water cannons and dangerous manoeuvres to defend its claim to the global trade route. China blames the Philippines for instigating the clashes. A 2016 international arbitration decision invalidated China's claims based on the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, but Beijing has rejected the ruling and continues to defy it. Šakalienė claimed that in the Baltic Sea, Chinese ships and crew members have helped suspected Russian fleets damage undersea oil pipelines and data and electricity cables belonging to European countries by dragging their anchors along the seabed. She warned that such acts of sabotage could also be carried out in Asia by China and Russia. Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan have also been involved in the long-simmering territorial disputes in the South China Sea but they have not been as vocal against China's aggression as the Philippines. The United States does not lay claim to the disputed waters but has repeatedly claimed that it is obligated to defend the Philippines — Washington's oldest treaty ally in Asia — if it comes under an armed attack. Šakalienė warned that it's crucial for countries to band together and fight an emerging authoritarian bloc consisting of China, Russia, Iran and North Korea which she called a threat to democracy.
Toronto Star
30-06-2025
- Politics
- Toronto Star
Lithuania and Philippines sign a pact to build an alliance against aggression
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The Philippines and Lithuania signed an agreement to build a security alliance resulting from their mutual alarm over what they perceive as growing aggression threatening their regions by countries such as China. The memorandum of understanding signed Monday in Manila by Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. and his Lithuanian counterpart, Dovilė Šakalienė, would foster defense cooperation particularly in cyber security, defense industries, munitions production, addressing threats and maritime security, the Department of National Defense in Manila said.
Mint
01-06-2025
- Politics
- Mint
Top defense officials say Ukraine war has blurred lines, exposing global threats
SINGAPORE (AP) — China and North Korea's support for Russia in its war against Ukraine has exposed how lines between regions have blurred, and the need for a global approach toward defense, top security officials said Sunday. North Korea has sent troops to fight on the front lines in Ukraine, while China has supported Russia economically and technologically while opposing international sanctions. Lithuanian Defense Minister Dovilė Šakalienė told delegates at the Shangri-La Dialogue, Asia's premiere defense forum, that if Ukraine were to fall, it would have a ripple effect in Asia and suggested it could embolden China in its territorial claims on Taiwan and virtually the entire South China Sea. 'If Russia prevails in Ukraine, it's not about Europe. It's not about one region," she said. 'It will send a very clear signal also to smaller states here in Indo-Pacific that anyone can ignore their borders, that any fabricated excuse can justify invasion.' The comments echoed those from French President Emmanuel Macron as he opened the conference on Friday advocating for greater European engagement in the Indo-Pacific. On Saturday, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth suggested European countries should focus their defense efforts in their own region and leave the Indo-Pacific more to the U.S., but Šakalienė said the regions were clearly intertwined. 'It's not a secret that when we talk about the main perpetrators in cyber security against Japan it's China, Russia and North Korea,' she said. 'When we talk about main cyber security perpetrators against Lithuania it's Russia, China and Belarus — two out of the three are absolutely the same.' She added that 'the convergence of Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea into an increasingly coordinated authoritarian axis,' demands a unified response. Iran has been a key supplier of attack drones to Russia for its war effort. "In this context, the United States' strategic focus on Indo-Pacific is both justified and necessary, but this is not America's responsibility alone,' she said. Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles told reporters on the sidelines that his main takeaway from the three-day conference, hosted by the International Institute for Strategic Studies, was the 'real intent in the way in which European countries have engaged' in the debates. 'It reflects the sense of connection, interconnectedness ... between Indo-Pacific on the one hand and the North Atlantic on the other,' he said. China sent a lower-level delegation from its National Defense University this year to the conference, but its Foreign Ministry on Sunday responded to comments from Hegseth that Beijing was destabilizing the region and preparing to possibly seize Taiwan by force. 'No country in the world deserves to be called a hegemonic power other than the U.S. itself, who is also the primary factor undermining the peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific,' it said, while reiterating its stance that the Taiwan issue was an internal Chinese matter. 'The U.S. must neve play with fire on this question,' the ministry said. Philippines Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr, whose country has been involved in increasingly violent clashes with China over competing claims in the South China Sea, scoffed at the idea that the U.S. was the problem. 'What the Chinese government considers fair and just may stand in stark contrast to the norms and values accepted by the rest of the world, especially the smaller countries,' he said. "To envision a China-led international order, we only need to look at how they treat their much smaller neighbors in the South China Sea.' He also underscored the international implications of the tensions in the Indo-Pacific, noting that the South China Sea was one of several maritime routes that are 'arteries of the global economy.'
San Francisco Chronicle
01-06-2025
- Politics
- San Francisco Chronicle
Top defense officials say Ukraine war has blurred lines, exposing global threats
SINGAPORE (AP) — China and North Korea's support for Russia in its war against Ukraine has exposed how lines between regions have blurred, and the need for a global approach toward defense, top security officials said Sunday. North Korea has sent troops to fight on the front lines in Ukraine, while China has supported Russia economically and technologically while opposing international sanctions. Lithuanian Defense Minister Dovilė Šakalienė told delegates at the Shangri-La Dialogue, Asia's premiere defense forum, that if Ukraine were to fall, it would have a ripple effect in Asia and suggested it could embolden China in its territorial claims on Taiwan and virtually the entire South China Sea. 'If Russia prevails in Ukraine, it's not about Europe. It's not about one region," she said. 'It will send a very clear signal also to smaller states here in Indo-Pacific that anyone can ignore their borders, that any fabricated excuse can justify invasion.' The comments echoed those from French President Emmanuel Macron as he opened the conference on Friday advocating for greater European engagement in the Indo-Pacific. On Saturday, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth suggested European countries should focus their defense efforts in their own region and leave the Indo-Pacific more to the U.S., but Šakalienė said the regions were clearly intertwined. 'It's not a secret that when we talk about the main perpetrators in cyber security against Japan it's China, Russia and North Korea,' she said. 'When we talk about main cyber security perpetrators against Lithuania it's Russia, China and Belarus — two out of the three are absolutely the same.' She added that 'the convergence of Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea into an increasingly coordinated authoritarian axis,' demands a unified response. Iran has been a key supplier of attack drones to Russia for its war effort. "In this context, the United States' strategic focus on Indo-Pacific is both justified and necessary, but this is not America's responsibility alone,' she said. Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles told reporters on the sidelines that his main takeaway from the three-day conference, hosted by the International Institute for Strategic Studies, was the 'real intent in the way in which European countries have engaged' in the debates. 'It reflects the sense of connection, interconnectedness ... between Indo-Pacific on the one hand and the North Atlantic on the other,' he said. China sent a lower-level delegation from its National Defense University this year to the conference, but its Foreign Ministry on Sunday responded to comments from Hegseth that Beijing was destabilizing the region and preparing to possibly seize Taiwan by force. 'No country in the world deserves to be called a hegemonic power other than the U.S. itself, who is also the primary factor undermining the peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific,' it said, while reiterating its stance that the Taiwan issue was an internal Chinese matter. 'The U.S. must neve play with fire on this question,' the ministry said. Philippines Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr, whose country has been involved in increasingly violent clashes with China over competing claims in the South China Sea, scoffed at the idea that the U.S. was the problem. 'What the Chinese government considers fair and just may stand in stark contrast to the norms and values accepted by the rest of the world, especially the smaller countries,' he said. "To envision a China-led international order, we only need to look at how they treat their much smaller neighbors in the South China Sea.' He also underscored the international implications of the tensions in the Indo-Pacific, noting that the South China Sea was one of several maritime routes that are 'arteries of the global economy.' 'Disruption in any of these maritime corridors triggers ripple effects across continents, impacting trade flows, military deployments, and diplomatic posture,' he said. Singapore's Defense Minister Chan Chun Sing said China missed an opportunity to have its voice heard by not sending its own defense minister, but it was still incumbent upon others to reach out to Beijing to try and build bridges and prevent misunderstandings. Singapore has close ties to both the U.S. and China, and is part of the regionally influential Association of Southeast Asian Nations along with the Philippines and others. 'It is in the interest of all of us to work with China, and it is also in the interest of China to work with everyone else in the world,' he said. 'It is in the interest of all of us to have a deeper understanding of China's fears, concerns and aspirations, just as it is important for China to understand how the rest of the world perceives China.'
