Lithuanian presidential adviser: I have a feeling that Ukraine peace deal is approaching

VILNIUS - Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda's chief national security adviser says he has a feeling that a peace deal in Ukraine is approaching and that the Crimean peninsula will not be legally recognized as part of Russia at the end of negotiations.

"I do have a certain political feeling that a peace deal is approaching. Probably no one else wants this peace deal as much as Ukraine does," Deividas Matulionis told the Ziniu Radijas news radio on Tuesday.

He also said he believed that the current US administration was seeking a sustainable and long-term peace agreement.

"This is really important to them, and only America can achieve such a solution," the presidential adviser said.

"So let's remain hopeful, especially since we don't know all the details of the negotiations. What appears in the press is often not necessarily true. I would like to see more positivity and belief that this is possible," he added.

The media has reported in recent weeks that the US, which is mediating efforts to end the war, would be ready to recognize Russia’s sovereignty over Crimea, a southern peninsula illegally annexed by Russia in 2014.

Matulionis stressed that there are no official proposals for peace terms yet, and that information leaked to the media "may be a certain test, or it may be true".

"De jure recognition of Crimea would undoubtedly... be an extremely dangerous precedent, like a ticking time bomb," the adviser said.

He argued that such a decision would change the international order that had emerged after World War II, but said he was convinced that if peace were agreed, there would be "no de jure recognition of Crimea".

According to media reports, the US may also agree to Russia's demand that Ukraine not be allowed to join NATO.

Two years ago, it was announced during the NATO summit in Vilnius that "Ukraine will become a member of NATO when the allies agree and conditions allow".

When asked whether the US's actions would contradict NATO's commitments to Ukraine, Matulionis said that changing this promise would require a unanimous decision by all 32 members of the Alliance.

"Article 10 of NATO [founding treaty], known as the open door clause, states very clearly that any country that shares our values and is able to contribute to our security has the right to join NATO," the presidential adviser said.

"Giving Russia a veto power over Ukraine's NATO membership would indeed be a very bad decision," he added.