Brussels: Europe and the Arabs
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen stressed during a visit to the Polish-Belarusian border that President Vladimir Putin "has not and will not change." According to her, Russia can only be contained with a strong deterrent.
Von der Leyen visited the border yesterday together with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk to show support for Poland and other eastern EU countries. She emphasized "Europe's full solidarity with Poland as a border country" and announced that border countries will receive additional European funding to strengthen their defenses, according to local media in Brussels on Monday.
Von der Leyen referred to the SAFE program, a tool for increasing joint defense production in the European Union. Under this program, €150 billion has been allocated for joint procurement, with Poland, Europe's largest defense spender, the main beneficiary. Tusk also announced that his country will invest 200 billion Polish zlotys (€47 billion) in defense and armed forces next year. The visit coincided with the 45th anniversary of the Gdansk Agreements, which paved the way for the establishment of the independent Solidarity trade union. Tusk emphasized that solidarity today means that Europe is jointly defending the security of its eastern borders.
Putin: "The war in Ukraine is not the result of a Russian invasion"
At the Tianjin, China summit, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping spoke at length. At a subsequent press conference, Putin addressed the war in Ukraine, among other topics.
In Tianjin, the president said he spoke with Xi and other world leaders about the Alaska summit, and with US President Donald Trump, and the terms for ending the conflict discussed there. He said, "The security of no country should be ensured at the expense of another. The root cause of the conflict must be addressed, and the security balance restored." In these remarks, he referred to NATO, as one of Russia's main demands for ending the conflict is Ukraine's inability to join the alliance.
Putin reiterated that the "crisis in Ukraine" is not the result of a Russian invasion. He pointed to "the West's ongoing attempts to bring Ukraine into NATO" and "the Western-backed coup in Ukraine" as the real causes of the war. Russian forces invaded Ukraine more than three years ago.
However, he expressed hope after meeting with Donald Trump in Alaska. He added, "What was discussed there could pave the way for ending the conflict."
In the same context, Lithuania completed the installation of concrete barriers known as "Dragon's Teeth" on its border with Russia, as part of strengthening its defenses against any potential threat. The move is part of a broader plan to block unused roads and crossings with Russia and Belarus.
The Lithuanian Ministry of Defense announced on Saturday the completion of the installation of the so-called "Dragon's Teeth" on its border with Russia, the latest step in a series of defensive measures aimed at deterring any potential threat from Moscow.
"We are starting from the tactical level, that is, setting up specific barriers on the border, and later integrating the entire engineering plan into a coherent system," said Lithuanian Army Commander Raimundas Vaiksnoras. He stressed that this measure is part of precautionary steps to strengthen national defenses.
The Ministry of Defense emphasized in a post on the X platform that this step is preventative, not offensive.
Lithuania and Latvia also border Belarus, Moscow's closest ally. Since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine in 2022, the Baltic states have raised their military alert levels, fearing a potential invasion.
The Lithuanian army is working to block unused roads linking it to Russia to reduce the risk of any ground incursion.
New concrete barriers have also been erected at unused border crossings with Belarus, such as Sumskas, Lavorisky, Rajgardas, and Laziris, in addition to the Romaniskis border crossing with Russia's Kaliningrad region.
Last July, Latvia announced the deployment of concrete anti-tank pyramids along its border with Russia, as part of the Baltic states' joint defense measures.