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The Lithuanian head of diplomacy, returning from a visit to Kiev on Thursday evening, where he visited colleagues from Latvia and Estonia, told LRT radio on Friday that that impression was formed from information available to Lithuania and presented by Ukrainian officials.
“One can get the impression that the situation is more dangerous than in 2013 or 2014, when Ukraine was attacked for the first time and Crimea was occupied. Probably the main reason for this is that this time Russia tried to hide its military forces, in an attempt to disguise its involvement in the conflict (…). Now this is a clear indication of strength: the military, the air force, the fleet are shown, ”G. Landsbergis told LRT radio.
According to him, the leaders of Ukraine, the government tried to contact the Russian leaders, asking on what basis the troops are mobilized, if it is an exercise, but no official response is received.
“It just came to our attention then. So, of course, it seems dangerous, a clear escalation, a veil of secrecy over the targets, it is an undeniable scenario and in the worst case scenario,” said the foreign minister.
According to him, it is not entirely clear what assistance NATO could provide to Ukraine, but so far NATO and the EU have managed to maintain unity by expressing clear political support for the country.
“If the situation worsened, so would that support, and the concrete steps would become clearer,” Landsberg said.
According to him, one of the hypotheses of Russia’s actions is the desire of President Vladimir Putin and the ruling apparatus to restore declining popularity before the Duma elections this year. Another hypothesis is to test whether Western support for Ukraine will be maintained if real military action is taken.
“I agree with this theory and I think it is probably one of the most serious tests for us, as the West, for the Western Alliance, if we will resist the violation of weapons and such a test of a real military threat,” said the Minister of Relations. Foreign of Lithuania.
He says he does not reject the “black scenario”, but hopes that Russia will withdraw its troops from the border and “not start an open conflict.”
“But if a conflict started, it is clear that the world would really react and Russia would have serious consequences,” Landsbergis said.
On Friday, the minister will meet with President Gitan Nauseda. He said that in the meeting with the president he would talk about Ukraine asking for political support and stressed that Lithuania “is doing it successfully.”
“This is an initial request from our friends in Ukraine. Next, of course, it is possible to consider what we could do or what signals, political and otherwise, could be sent both to Russia and to our partners in Europe and NATO. Because of this. to the fact that this is also important, Lithuania is an audible state in international formats ”, said G. Landsbergis.
Landsbergis visited Kiev on Thursday with colleagues from Latvia and Estonia, where the Baltic states and Ukraine issued a joint statement calling on Russia to end its provocative actions by mobilizing troops on the border with Ukraine.
Ukraine accuses Russia of mobilizing thousands of troops along the eastern border, including in annexed Crimea. Reports of the mobilization came after bloody clashes with Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine.
Moscow, for its part, says it has deployed troops along its western border to conduct exercises in response to the threat of NATO action.
