NATO is ready to strengthen military presence in Lithuania in case of Russian provocations - advisor to the country's president
Kyiv • UNN
NATO will deploy additional forces in Lithuania in case of a critical situation due to Russian provocations. The advisor to the President of Lithuania ruled out the possibility of an RF invasion.
NATO countries would deploy additional military capabilities in Lithuania if Russian provocations in the region lead to a critical security situation. This was stated by the chief adviser to the President of Lithuania on national security, Deividas Matulionis, as reported by Lithuanian broadcaster LRT, writes UNN.
Details
The Alliance takes seriously the warning about the increased risk of Russian provocations in the Baltic region and other parts of Europe in the coming months, Matulionis assured.
"We have already issued the relevant warnings, and the Alliance takes this very seriously. If all indicators point to a critical nature of the situation, I have no doubt that additional forces and air defense assets will be allocated," he said.
Leaders of NATO's eastern flank countries have recently publicly warned of possible threats, citing intelligence data indicating that Russia is preparing provocations on their territory. In Lithuania, authorities have identified critical transport and energy infrastructure as potential targets and recently strengthened security measures at these facilities.
Matulionis noted that provocations can take various forms — from so-called false flag operations aimed at shifting blame to Ukraine, to acts of sabotage similar to those observed in various European countries in recent years. According to him, the threat extends not only to the Baltic states but also to other countries that actively support Ukraine.
At the same time, he dismissed the possibility that Russia is preparing to invade a NATO member state.
"Of course, there is no information about a buildup of troops on our border, so the issue of a military invasion is ruled out. The probability of this is practically zero," Matulionis stated.
He added that Russian attacks can be prevented and noted that the Lithuanian authorities are taking all necessary measures "to ensure that such actions are not carried out on our territory."