Russian President Vladimir Putin. (Image: Getty)
Lithuania has warned Russia could plan attacks on European countries, also members of NATO, by targeting energy and transport infrastructures. The President of Lithuania, Gitanas Nausėda, suggested security measures in the Baltic countries and Poland should be increased as a precaution.
Mr Nauseda mentioned his concerns during an interview with BNS quoted by Lithuania’s news outlet LRT and said: “We have received such signals from our intelligence services. They do not identify a specific place or time because that is simply impossible to determine. The other side may not even have completed its planning process, and we may only know about the planning itself or the intended objective.”
Nauseda said Lithuania or Poland could be targeted. (Image: Getty)
The Lithuanian President also said: “So yes, I cannot deny that we have such information and that it concerns kinetic operations – not on a large scale, but targeted kinetic operations that are very likely to be directed against critical infrastructure.”
He did not provide evidence to support the assessment or identify potential targets, LRT said.
These comments echoed the words of another European leader who recently mentioned possible Russian threats. Poland PM Donald Tusk said there are “concerns” in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania due to Moscow’s plan to test NATO’s reaction to an armed provocation.
Earlier this month, Mr Tusk said that “due to the changing nature of the war,” concerns are rising over a possible Russian provocation in the next months, especially in the Baltic.
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He said: “I don’t mean to scare anyone but the coming months may truly be critical, also due to the changing nature of the war. These concerns are particularly palpable in the Baltic states.
“Let’s not be afraid, we are preparing for various situations, but we cannot ignore them. We are aware of the threats, also thanks to information from our allies.”
A Russian attack on the Baltic States or Poland, all NATO members, could see these nations triggering Article 5 and drag the whole alliance into a conflict against Moscow.
The Kremlin has since rejected Lithuanian claims, branding them “the latest batch of scare stories designed to continue brainwashing the population and preparing it for further militarisation”.