Lithuania: Presidential aide urges against hasty exit from mine ban treaty

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda’s chief foreign policy adviser, Asta Skaisgiryte, urged against making “hasty steps” in withdrawing from the Ottawa Treaty banning anti-personnel mines, BNS reports. Speaking in an interview with Ziniu Radijas, Skaisgiryte called for a regional solution on the issue. She supported a collective withdrawal from the treaty by NATO’s eastern flank or member states bordering Russia. Earlier, Defence Minister Dovile Sakaliene called for a regional solution as well, while Prime Minister Gintautas Paluckas and defence chief General Raimundas Vaiksnoras expressed support for withdrawing from the convention.