Could Lithuania mediate between Poland and Ukraine? Informal Summit in Jurata

Polish President Karol Nawrocki hosted his counterparts from the Baltic states and Romania at his residence in Jurata over the weekend. The main focus of this informal mini-summit was preparations for the upcoming NATO summit in Ankara.

At the invitation of President Nawrocki, the gathering included Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda, Latvian President Edgars Rinkēvičs, Estonian President Alar Karis, and Romanian President Nicușor Dan. The leaders first visited the Naval Port in Gdynia before holding talks at the Polish presidential residence in Jurata on the Hel Peninsula.

During the discussions, the presidents coordinated the joint positions of Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and Romania ahead of the NATO summit in Ankara, according to a statement from the Polish Presidential Office. The talks covered priorities for regional cooperation, security in the Baltic and Black Sea regions, and key transatlantic issues.

“Europe’s security depends on the Eastern Flank”

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda stressed that Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine, intensified hybrid attacks on NATO territory, cyberattacks, disinformation campaigns, airspace violations, and drone incidents demonstrate that Russia remains the greatest long-term threat to Euro-Atlantic security.

“Russia’s imperial ambitions do not end in Ukraine. That is why we must continue to strengthen NATO’s deterrence and defence capabilities, maintain a strong transatlantic bond, and ensure long-term support for Ukraine. Europe’s security is being defended on the eastern flank today,” he said.

Nausėda highlighted the need to focus on air defence, military mobility, and the presence of allied forces on the eastern flank. The leaders also discussed the European Commission’s proposed Eastern Flank Watch initiative, which would complement national and regional efforts to strengthen the protection of the EU and NATO’s external borders.

“Europe’s security begins with unity and a strong eastern flank,” Estonian President Alar Karis wrote on X.

Regarding the NATO summit in Ankara, Nausėda emphasised that the Alliance must preserve transatlantic unity, increase defence investments, strengthen its defence industry, and continue providing comprehensive support to Ukraine.

“A strong transatlantic bond remains the foundation of our collective defence. At the same time, Europe must take greater responsibility for its own security, invest more in defence, and strengthen its defence industry. Only a strong Europe can be a strong ally to the United States,” the Lithuanian president underlined.

He noted that Lithuania is consistently meeting its commitments: in 2026 it will allocate 5.38% of GDP to national defence, making it the NATO member investing the largest share of its GDP in defence – surpassing Poland, which until recently led in this regard (spending 4.48% of GDP in 2025 on a budget ten times larger than Lithuania’s).

Is the Lithuanian President a potential mediator between Nawrocki and Zelenskyy?

In the informal part of the meeting, the topic of deteriorating relations between Poland and Ukraine arose. Nausėda declared his readiness to mediate between Warsaw and Kyiv ahead of the summit, provided both sides express such a wish.

“We will also discuss this issue informally, which is extremely important to me,” the Lithuanian leader said. He added that he would like to hear President Karol Nawrocki’s position on the sources of the conflict and possible solutions.

“The past is important, but the present is even more so – especially while Russia’s brutal war against Ukraine continues,” he noted, recalling that during the recent Ukraine Recovery Conference in Gdańsk, Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko signalled Kyiv’s readiness to ease tensions.

All five countries whose presidents attended the meetings in Gdynia and Jurata are members of the Bucharest Nine and the Three Seas Initiative.

The presidential residence in Jurata in its current form was built between 1996 and 2003. The first villa was renovated in 1998 as the residence for the presidential couple, while the second, completed in 1999, serves presidential guests. The complex is located on the southern side of the Hel Peninsula, in the so-called Fortified Hel area, on the shore of Puck Bay.

The article in Polish by EUalive’s partner Focus Europe Poland can be found here.

Caption: The presidents of Poland, Lithuania, Romania, Estonia and Latvia in Hel [Photo: Website of the President of Poland]