TFGG01: LITHUANIA IMPRESSED WITH NATO SOLIDARITY;

C O N F I D E N T I A L VILNIUS 000689

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/21/2018
TAGS: PREL XG GG LH
SUBJECT: TFGG01: LITHUANIA IMPRESSED WITH NATO SOLIDARITY;
EXPECTS RUSSIAN RETRIBUTION

REF: A. STATE 89769

B. VILNIUS 667

Classified By: CDA Damian R. Leader for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (C) Lithuania remains very forward leaning in its reaction
to the situation in Georgia. President Adamkus told Charge
August 20 that he was pressing EU heads of state to take a
more supportive stand on Georgia, and was pleased with the
August 19 NAC statement. MFA Director of Transatlantic
Cooperation and Security Policy Vytautas Leskevicius also
told Post August 20 that Foreign Minister Petras Vaitiekunas
was "positively impressed" by the unity and solidarity
expressed toward Georgia at the NATO Special Ministerial.
The GOL is very supportive of the Ministerial statement as
well. Leskevicius characterized the new NATO-Georgia
Commission as "the right political signal" to send to Georgia
and especially Russia because it indicates an upgrade in the
NATO-Georgia relationship, exactly what Leskevicius said the
Russians do not want.


2. (C) Leskevicius also discussed the OSCE role in Georgia,
saying Lithuania is pleased with the OSCE Permanent Council's
decision to deploy immediately an additional twenty military
monitoring officers. He said Lithuania is ready to support
the overall OSCE monitoring mission with troops the MoND is
currently preparing for deployment to Georgia (ref b).


3. (C) Leskevicius stressed that there is no doubt among the
Presidency, the MFA and other senior leaders in Lithuania
that there will be Russian retribution against their country
for its recent support of both Georgia and the basing of
Missile Defense in Eastern Europe. It may be in the form
energy cutoffs, Russian missiles deployed in Kaliningrad, or
even "tanks rolling down the road." Leskevicius said the
Lithuanians will seek to collaborate with NATO on both
re-evaluating the Russian threat to Lithuania and also a
contingency plan to defend against it.


4. (U) Lithuania has been sending humanitarian assistance to
Georgian refugees since the start of the crisis. Media
sources reported August 20 that the Lithuanians will send the
first shipment of "charity" items to Georgia by August 23.
Charity items were collected over the August 15-17 weekend by
the Democracy and Development Assistance Fund from the
Lithuanian people themselves in Vilnius, Kaunas, Marijampole
and Siauliai and include clothes, bedclothes, toys, shoes,
and approximately USD 15,000 in cash. The Lithuanian Red
Cross continues to take donations as well, and the media has
estimated that the Lithuanian people have privately donated
over USD 160,000 to aid Georgia.
LEADER