Lithuanian Foreign Minister: Russia remains a long-term threat to NATO and Europe
Kyiv • UNN
Kęstutis Budrys stated that Russia remains a threat to NATO and Europe. The Kremlin is ready to use force to achieve its goals, therefore, Russia needs to be deterred.
russia remains a long-term direct military threat to NATO and Europe. Because moscow has been investing in military capabilities for more than a decade and deploying forces near the Alliance's borders, preparing for a confrontation.
This was stated by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania Kęstutis Budrys during a joint briefing with the Minister of Foreign Affairs Andriy Sybiha, reports the correspondent of UNN.
Details
According to Budrys, after the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, it became obvious that the Kremlin is ready to use military force to achieve political goals.
What he (putin, -ed.) wants, and he wants the Americans to leave Europe. He wants dominance in Europe. He wants the infrastructure to be pushed to the West. He does not want Ukraine to be an independent strong country with economic and social conditions. And that's what he achieves. And he achieved this by political means, not by war, as now, and I am sure that he will try to achieve this through negotiations and with all other elements. So this is a long-term perspective for russia
The Minister stressed that there are only three scenarios for NATO and Ukraine to interact with the aggressor country: war with the russian federation, threat from russia or occupation. Budrys is convinced that the only way to avoid the worst-case scenario is to deter russia by strengthening defense and increasing international support for Ukraine.
Therefore, in the future, we see long-term support for Ukraine and Ukraine's membership in NATO as a solution to be safe. And that is how we should approach russia. I have no illusions about this regime. No illusions about time and era. No matter how good stories they tell about cooperation, that's not the point. They need territories, and they want to subjugate their neighbors. That's who we're dealing with. And you know, it's better than anyone else
Recall
Earlier, the Financial Times reported that the defense ministers of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania warned that a ceasefire in Ukraine would sharply increase the security threat to the Baltic states, as russia will continue to implement plans to rearm and redeploy troops to NATO's north-eastern flank.