MOSCOW, April 2. /TASS/. European countries cannot fully replace the United States in terms of military assistance to Ukraine, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys told RBC-Ukraine in an interview.
"We have no substitute for some critical supplies [from the US to Ukraine]. We all know what those are. This is why we should continue working with the US," he pointed out in response to a question about Europe’s ability to fill potential gaps in Washington’s supplies to Ukraine.
According to Budrys, European countries should strengthen cooperation with Kiev in the field of defense industry in order to boost their own weapons production. However, he expects the US to "remain part of European security architecture."
US President Donald Trump ordered a halt to all military aid to Ukraine a few days after his verbal spat with Vladimir Zelensky at the White House on February 28. The US leader’s decision took effect on the morning of March 4. The move concerned all US military equipment that had not yet reached Ukraine, including weapons transported by aircraft and vessels or waiting to be shipped from transit zones in Poland. US Presidential National Security Advisor Mike Waltz stated on March 11 that Washington would resume supplies to Kiev through a mechanism for emergency defense aid.
The Russian authorities have repeatedly stressed that arming Kiev with weapons will neither deter Moscow’s resolve nor alter the course of its special military operation.