The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania, Gabrielius Landsbergis, believes that the Russian dictator Vladimir Putin will not stop on his own, and to achieve this, Ukraine needs to win the war. According to him, European countries have started to worry about the threat of Russia's attack against the backdrop of "Putin's interest."
He said this in an interview with RBC-Ukraine
"I will talk about it every time I have the opportunity: Putin will not stop until he is stopped. The only way to stop him is to win the war in Ukraine. And this is the only way to truly be sure that his expansionist idea has been stopped, maybe not forever, because who knows, we cannot predict the future, but at least stopped," Landsbergis said in an interview.
According to the Lithuanian minister, otherwise, "we will have to start the clock until the next time."
"And here it becomes really dangerous. It becomes really dangerous for Ukraine, but then it becomes dangerous for everyone else. It can be Moldova, Georgia, and even the Baltic countries. And look, the Norwegian Chief of the General Staff says: you know, we have to be ready for a real war," added the head of the Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
He also stated that in countries with borders and a history with Russia, there has been talk of new possible threats of war amid concerns about the ability to restrain Russia and the potential for military actions to move westward.
"This is a new awakening. I mean, in 2022, we were impressed by the war. But the idea was that it could be restrained by Ukraine," he noted.
The Lithuanian minister emphasized that optimism in the defeat of Russia was fueled by Ukraine's provision of equipment to repel aggression. However, now "everyone is waking up to real reality again," raising questions about the possibility of restraining Russian occupiers. According to the Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs, such questions have arisen against the backdrop of "Putin's interest."
"Indeed, when you see a person like him, he is confident that he has time. He doesn't care about people. And the understanding that the war is not somewhere far away. For the countries of Scandinavia, the Baltic States, Poland, Romania. These are the countries where the war is actually happening nearby," he pointed out.
On the other hand, according to Landsbergis, when it comes to countries located at a greater distance from Russia, it is still too early to talk about Russian aggression.
He emphasized that two months ago, almost no one was talking about the real possibility of war reaching NATO, and this issue generated little debate. However, now this scenario is being considered much more actively, especially in Sweden, Poland, and Estonia.
"The Minister of Defense of Germany stated: 5-7 years, we need to prepare for war. This is from Germany. And this is from the center-left party. If you think about it, it's a quite strong statement. I mean, we see a shift, and where it will stop, we will see," Landsbergis concluded.
