Lithuanian Foreign Affairs Minister Kęstutis Budrys was speaking on the sidelines of a European Ministers meeting in Ireland. EU ministers were joined by Ukrainian, British, Icelandic, Norwegian and Canadian counterparts where a deteriorating European security situation was top of the agenda.
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Germany’s decision to formally hold Russia responsible for a drone attack at Leipzig airport on August 4th was also at the forefront of the discussion.
EU Foreign Policy chief Kaja Kallas told reporters that “Moscow has not changed its war aims.”
She also said the increasing number of more violent hybrid-war attacks by Russia against NATO and European states are intended to “scare” citizens and deter them from supporting Ukraine.
Minister Budrys said if Russia were to injure or cause severe damage to Lithuanian territory, his government would act “immediately” in self-defence.
Once there is the ‘attribution this it was Russia, and there is intention, and damage then, and it falls under UN Chartered definition for self-defence,’ then “of course we would” respond in self-defence.
“We don’t need some working group or some commission to find out that we take our time,” he said.
