Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielus Landsbergis warned on Monday of the risk of NATO experiencing a “Pearl Harbor moment” in relations with Russia, referring to the surprise attack by Japanese planes on the American base in Hawaii in 1941, reports EFE agency, quoted by Agerpres.

“We cannot wait for a second Pearl Harbor moment, one of our own,” he said in an interview published by German television channel ZDF on Monday morning, when asked about the different perceptions of the Russian threat in northern and southern Europe.

“Our security, everyone’s security, is interconnected. If Lithuania is dangerous, other parts of Europe are dangerous,” said Landsbergis. The minister emphasized the importance of continuing to provide support and arms to Ukraine so that Russia can be “stopped” there, otherwise the conflict risks expanding and reaching the European Union.

“The alarm clock rang, but we hadn’t gotten out of bed yet. The biggest problem is that we don’t know how much time we have left,” he warned, noting that Russia has the ability to mobilize another 400,000 troops by building new tanks and weapons.

Landsbergis’ comments came after Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda warned earlier in February that a new “iron curtain” had already fallen over Europe.

The Baltic countries are increasingly worried about the possibility of Russian aggression

“It has already fallen, it has fallen with all its weight on February 24, 2022,” Nauseda told reporters on February 8 after they asked him if Lithuania’s decision to close two more border crossings with Belarus was a sign that a new “iron” “curtain” descends on Europe.

Nauseda added that some Western leaders “were still under the illusion for some time” about the possibility of dialogue with Moscow after President Vladimir Putin launched the war nearly two years ago, but that “iron curtain” was already in place and was likely to be down for a long time. . some time ago

He did not want to give a time frame for this, whether it happened “years or decades” ago, but noted that “the existence of this iron curtain” creates problems both for NATO as a whole and for Lithuania, which has “a lot to do and do quickly”. “We cannot work slowly today, especially in the defense sector, we must mobilize quickly to prepare for any challenges that may arise,” he said.

Lithuania and two other Baltic states, Latvia and Estonia, announced in January that they would build a joint defense line on their borders with Russia and Belarus to counter possible military threats.

On January 19, the defense ministers of the three countries signed an agreement according to which their states undertake to build defense facilities in the coming years “in order to deter and, if necessary, protect against military threats.”

Estonia and Latvia call for increased aid to Ukraine

Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsakhna lashed out at Russian President Vladimir Putin this Monday, calling him a “murderer” and saying Ukraine urgently needs more ammunition.

“Putin is a criminal. He killed a man who fought for freedom, for democracy, and that is why we must continue. Over the past two days, I have been asked many times how we are responding to Navalny’s death. The best and clearest answer would be: finally we are working. We must support Ukraine. (…) We need to give Ukraine the ammunition that the EU actually promised a year ago, for March,” said the head of Estonian diplomacy.

Tsakhna made these comments on his way to Brussels to participate in a summit of foreign ministers of EU member states.

Landsbergis, in separate comments before the summit, also called for increased aid to Ukraine and sharply criticized his EU colleagues for not giving Kyiv enough ammunition to defeat Russia.

Arriving at a summit of foreign ministers in Brussels, he said it was a “miracle” that Ukraine had been able to hold out so far, given Russia’s “6:1” ammunition advantage.

“We spent two years communicating, trying to understand how we can help Ukraine little by little. But unfortunately, since we have not agreed to formulate a strategic goal for what we are trying to achieve, we cannot say that we are in it for victory (…) We have said that the main problem since the beginning of the war is that that here, in the west, we could not, we could not formulate the goal of what we want to achieve,” said the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania.

The EU is discussing the introduction of new sanctions against Moscow

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said before the summit that member states are expected to discuss new sanctions against Moscow over the death of Alexei Navalny, Vladimir Putin’s most prominent opponent.

“We must send a message of support to the Russian opposition. Therefore, on both fronts, political and military, we must continue to support Ukraine and the Russian people who want to live in freedom,” Borrell emphasized.

The head of German diplomacy, Annalena Berbock, said that her country supports the introduction of a new wave of sanctions against Russia after the death of Navalny.

“We have seen the brutal force with which the Russian president represses his own citizens who take to the streets to demand freedom or write about it in newspapers,” said the German foreign minister.

Burbok also said that “we will propose new sanctions in connection with the death of Oleksiy Navalny”.

Follow the latest events of the 726th day of the war in Ukraine LIVETEXT on HOTNEWS.RO.