He indicated what Lithuania will seek in Washington: I cannot say that everything in NATO is very good

He said that the plans should not only be written on paper, but should actually work. Therefore, the decisions made by NATO will make it possible to assess the real capabilities of the countries.

“If we look only from the defense side, then we have plans, but they need to be implemented, because plans without forces are just paper, which is worthless. So, those capabilities that are missing, it is not a secret here what is missing, let’s start with air defense, maneuver units, ground brigades and not only them. NATO has taken rather drastic decisions that it is necessary to evaluate what states declare as existing capabilities.

Let’s say that a country says “I have three brigades”, but the words alone do not indicate that they are actually equipped, that the people are ready and that they can be transferred to our countries in a few days. Someone has to evaluate it,” said V. Urbelis in the News Radio program “Actualusis Interviu”.

Therefore, a decision was made that NATO representatives could come, inspect and assess whether those brigades are “on paper” or can actually fight.

“The same issue of ammunition stocks. Ukraine has shown how much ammunition it is necessary to have, stockpile, and be able to deliver quickly. This will also be discussed. <...> Very often we think that if we give more money to defense, we will be able to purchase more, maybe not more. Because defense inflation is also very high.

So we need to start that defense industry, everyone is talking about that too, because the more it is produced, the more choice we will have, the prices will have to fall. This is no less important from the defense side”, V. Urbelis, director of defense policy of the Ministry of National Defense, said on the air of the News Radio program “Actualusis interview”.

According to him, these matters and air defense will also be considered.

“Let’s not forget the land element. These are modernization, weighting, artillery, long-range systems. What the war in Ukraine has shown is that the ability to affect opponents at a distance of hundreds of kilometers is very important. Finally, the same drones, intelligence platforms and everything else,” the interviewer said. V. Urbelis.

He agreed that not all plans agreed at the NATO summit in Vilnius last July have been implemented.

“The lack of those capabilities is obvious, NATO military commanders are talking about it publicly. This does not mean that NATO cannot defend itself. It could, but there are some drawbacks. And if we want to have 100 percent of everything, there is a lot of work that NATO countries have to do in the coming years.

I don’t want to say that it is very bad. I’d say it’s very good in certain categories, but pretty average in some. Therefore, the money should be directed to where it is on average”, said V. Urbelis, Director of Defense Policy of the Ministry of National Defense.