The European commissioner for defense, Andrius Kubilius, attended the Munich Security Conference, held in the Bavarian capital from February 14 to 16, where he met General Keith Kellogg, the United States special envoy for Ukraine and Russia. In Paris, on Tuesday, February 18, the former Lithuanian prime minister (1999-2000 and 2008-2012) questioned the Trump administration's strategy, fearing that it "risks strengthening Putin politically."

Let's just say that some expected things have happened unexpectedly. We're facing two challenges in two different timeframes: one is urgent, the war between Russia and Ukraine, with the possibility that Russia will want to test us [Europe] militarily by 2030. The other is the rise of Chinese military power, with the possibility that the US will shift its security resources to the Indo-Pacific and reduce its presence on the European continent. They've always told us that we need to bear these two things in mind as we prepare our European defense. What's still not clear is what kind of strategy the Americans are trying to define, or even if there is some kind of strategy.

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