If we’re really standing with Ukrainians, our role is to support their choices. None of us may claim the right or authority to tell them when and what to surrender.
Gabrielius Landsbergis is a member of the European Council on Foreign Relations. He was Lithuania’s minister for foreign affairs from 2020 to 2024.
A week before the ghastly Oval Office bullying of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, one of the bravest leaders of our time, I had the honor of sitting on a panel with former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson at a conference in Kyiv. We were discussing what was then called the “minerals deal,” as some still believed “a deal” could be that simple.
I warned him, as Zelenskyy later warned the U.S. vice president, that Russian President Vladimir Putin doesn’t respect deals — and, anyway, without security guarantees, this wasn’t even a deal.
But Johnson advised Ukraine to take the deal as a step in the right direction — you know, figure out the details later, stop being so stubborn about holding on to your minerals, take the “win.” I found this a rather flippant approach.
I was Lithuania’s foreign minister when Putin launched his so-called “special military operation” in 2022. So, I had three years of up-close experience of Western politicians misjudging Putin, talking down to Ukrainians, underestimating them over and over again.
I understand why this Dunning-Kruger orientalism still goes on, but it needs to stop. It shouldn’t be hard to understand that things in different parts of the world work differently and require local knowledge. And while I expect those dishing out advice mean well, hubris, it seems, is a terrible drug.
Let’s instead sweep the recent distractions off the table and refocus on our goal. We all say we support Ukraine’s sovereignty. We’re all on the same page. So, if we follow through on this logically, none of us may claim the right or authority to tell Ukraine when and what to surrender.
Ukraine belongs to Ukrainians. We are on their side. Our role is to leverage our power to stack the deck in their favor and support their choices until they win. We aren’t here to lecture them on what to wear or how to negotiate with Vladimir “breaks agreements while the ink is still wet” Putin.
If we really are standing with Ukraine, and we believe in democracy as much as we say we do, we must also commit to supporting democratic Ukrainians no matter what happens — even if they lose battles, even if they lose Kyiv, even if the last remaining partisan is executed by the occupying puppet regime, even if it seems like all is lost for decades, and all the outlawed flags must stay hidden under the floorboards, waiting for their day of freedom.
That might seem like a long commitment, but we said: “As long as it takes.”
Were we lying? Are we the baddies? We could prove we aren’t simply by hurrying to make Ukraine as militarily strong and safe as possible.
The truth is, even if we sit back and let Ukraine be overpowered by its enemies, Ukrainian freedom will rise again one day, the sunflower of liberty will spread its yellow petals against the blue sky, and a restored independent Ukraine will exist — with or without our permission. And when Ukraine is finally free, all will not be forgotten. Every Ukrainian and their descendants will forever remember who believed in them, and who didn’t.
I am Lithuanian. I was born under Soviet occupation, and after my parents’ and grandparents’ generations defied their invaders and kicked them out, I was democratically elected to my country’s government. I am living testimony that with enough willpower, freedom can be dragged out of the blackest of black holes — especially when friends of democracy come together to help.
So, let us do just that, sooner rather than later, fully rather than half-heartedly. British and French readers, especially devotees of Winston Churchill and Charles De Gaulle, should be able to relate to the kind of spirit I’m talking about.
I’m writing these words on March 11, the day we celebrate the Restoration of the Independence of Lithuania. And if Ukraine will be armed to win, we won’t have to restore Lithuania’s independence ever again.
