Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda has expressed concern at the UN General Assembly session that Russia had officially announced its withdrawal from the Conventional Armed Forces in Europe Treaty, which he believes means that Russia is preparing for even more large-scale military action, not peace.
We have to admit that we need Ukraine's victory. Not just for Ukraine, but for all of us. We need to focus on Ukraine and return to the urgency that we had some time ago. We need to send to Ukraine everything that we can.
Gabrielius Landsbergis, Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs
Lithuania has acquired two launchers for the NASAMS air defense system and will soon transfer them to Ukraine, the country's president Gitanas Nauseda announced on June 28....
Facing shortages of soldiers, for at least half year #Russia had been mobilizing economic migrants from Asia for war in #Ukraine.
But now the circles is expanding - Russia and #Belarus security services had been running a human trafficking business on people from Middle East and #Africa whom they forcibly then sent to storm the EU border with #Poland and #Lithuania, and recently also with #Finland.
It now seems like Russian security services started to mobilize men lured with the promise of getting into EU. This man was taken prisoner of war by Ukrainian army and described himself as someone who was trapped in Russia on his way to EU and forced to participate in the war. Many like him weren’t as lucky and never had a chance to surrender alive.
If you know anyone considering even putting their foot in Russia or Belarus on their way to EU, tell them they may end up in the opposite of the place they dreamed of.
P.S. Russia also recruits regular mercenaries in Asia and Africa, but this particular man wasn’t one.
The 870 km Rail Baltica project, which is due for completion in 2030, will connect the capitals of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia with Warsaw and the rest of Europe, allowing trains to run uninterrupted.
However, the project is symbolic as well as physical.
For the EU, it’s a statement about the Baltic states’ return to Europe and their decoupling from their Soviet past.
"Blogger Markus Johnson published a map of aircraft with jammed navigation on 15 and 16 March, claiming that at least 873 aircraft had their navigation jammed in that period."
Jamming #GPS signals from #Kaliningrad has become routine in what is meant to appear has rehearsal for an invasion of #Poland and #Lithuania. This is not a #War in some far away place.
In his speech at the Crimean Platform summit, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda stressed that it was Crimea where the Russian aggression against Ukraine began, and the peninsula would have to be the place where it would finally be put to an end.
#Russia has declared an intention to unilaterally extend its territorial waters on #Baltic sea in a way that collides with territorial waters of #Finland and #Lithuania. Russian Ministry of Defense (!) proposed to cancel the 1985 #USSR decision of demarcation of the sea borders and redraw them according to “new geographical references”, and then declare them “internal waters”.
Obviously, this looks very much like a poorly disguised attempt to create an strategic dilemma for #NATO by unilaterally opening a territorial dispute with two NATO members without really invading anyone yet. In case of NATO inaction the next step will be Russian actually enforcing their “new territorial waters” by threatening or sinking ships sailing to Finland and Lithuania. And if the inaction continues, the next step will be likely establishing “new geographical references” on one of the land borders of NATO countries.
Lithuania had pledged 35 million euros (around $38 million) for the Czech initiative to buy 800,000 artillery shells for Ukraine, Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte said on March 20.
"We came here, obviously, to show unity, to show our commitment and hoping that the Americans would hear us," said Icelandic lawmaker Dilja Mist Einarsdottir. "We are leaving America a little bit sad," she added.
#France is building an alliance of countries open to potentially sending Western troops to #Ukraine — and in the process deepening its clash with a more cautious #Berlin.
French Foreign Minister Stéphane #Séjourné was in #Lithuania on Friday, where he met his #Baltic and Ukrainian counterparts to buttress the idea that foreign troops could end up helping Ukraine in areas like demining.
We need to change our strategy from “as long as it takes” to “whatever victory takes”. So what would victory take? Let’s compare #Poland’s recent procurements to the amount of equipment the world has given #Ukraine
#France is asking the #EU to set up a new sanctions regime to target Russian disinformation and election interference operations worldwide.
The proposal, which is backed by #Estonia, #Latvia, #Lithuania, the #Netherlands and #Poland, would allow the EU to strengthen sanctions against individuals and entities involved in Russian-sponsored destabilizing activities globally.
27 April 1792 #Poland#Lithuania magnates and clergy met in #Russia Saint Petersburg and enacted Targowica Confederation with the backing of the Russian Empress Catherine II.^1
The official goals were to “protect freedoms and traditions”. The Confederation opposed Constitution of 3 May.^2 As result of the Confederation, Russian Empire “came to help” and Poland ceased to exist as a sovereign country.
Many of the Confederates were hanged during Kościuszko Uprising two years later.
Gabrielius Landsbergis, #Lithuania minister of foreign affairs:
We declare red lines for ourselves, but not for Russia. We publicly tie our own hands while leaving Putin free to pillage, rape and destroy. We create strategic transparency, not strategic ambiguity. It’s time to change course. Putin is prepared to cross borders, subvert democratic governments, ignore treaties and rewrite the past in an attempt to legitimise the invasion and annexation of his so-called “lands of historic Russian interest”. Putin threatens NATO with nuclear missiles, trains his armed forces for invasions, puts his economy into war mode, uses chemical weapons and orders assassinations on NATO soil. He has weaponised migrants, engaged in cyber attacks and launched disinformation campaigns. And what about our response? We have taken every opportunity to declare what we are NOT going to do. We have imposed red lines on ourselves and announced them openly, while our adversary operates without any. We are an open book to Putin, he expects that tomorrow will bring neither Taurus nor ATACMS nor even sufficient amounts of ammunition. He wakes up every day knowing there will be no strategic dilemmas that would shift his calculations, either on the battlefield or beyond. If anyone thinks Putin has regard for our gestures of restraint and alters his behaviour accordingly, they are choosing to live in an illusion. He perceives caution as weakness and an invitation to keep going.Russia retains the initiative and continues escalating. Our failure to meet this strategy with a sufficient response is the reason for the escalation, not a path to de-escalation. This is the main reason for anxiety on the eastern flank that Putin might test Article 5. Our unilateral attempts at de-escalation are not leading to the de-escalation of anything. If we do not change our approach, we might find ourselves dealing with a seismic geopolitical disaster. And a global one, at that. Therefore it is imperative to change our approach, embrace strategic ambiguity, break taboos and include all available options in our toolkit. Such suggestions should be welcomed, not dismissed. If we think defeat can be limited to Ukraine, and Putin will have no further ambitions, we have a very harsh lesson coming. But if we want Ukraine to win we must keep everything we have on the table.
Lithuanian President says Russia preparing for even larger-scale combat actions, not peace (www.pravda.com.ua)
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda has expressed concern at the UN General Assembly session that Russia had officially announced its withdrawal from the Conventional Armed Forces in Europe Treaty, which he believes means that Russia is preparing for even more large-scale military action, not peace.
Lithuania to transfer 2 NASAMS launchers to Ukraine (kyivindependent.com)
Lithuania has acquired two launchers for the NASAMS air defense system and will soon transfer them to Ukraine, the country's president Gitanas Nauseda announced on June 28....
All this began in Crimea and must end in Crimea - Lithuanian President (www.pravda.com.ua)
In his speech at the Crimean Platform summit, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda stressed that it was Crimea where the Russian aggression against Ukraine began, and the peninsula would have to be the place where it would finally be put to an end.
Lithuania allocates $38 million to buy shells for Ukraine via Czech initiative (kyivindependent.com)
Lithuania had pledged 35 million euros (around $38 million) for the Czech initiative to buy 800,000 artillery shells for Ukraine, Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte said on March 20.
Lithuania allocates over 300,000 euros to support Ukrainian refugees (kyivindependent.com)
The Lithuanian government has approved the allocation of 326,000 euros ($353,000) to support Ukrainian refugees living in the country.
Nordic-Baltic delegation visits US Congress in bid to shore up support for Ukraine (kyivindependent.com)
"We came here, obviously, to show unity, to show our commitment and hoping that the Americans would hear us," said Icelandic lawmaker Dilja Mist Einarsdottir. "We are leaving America a little bit sad," she added.