Lithuanian Foreign Minister condemns West for its fear of Russia: You are inviting Moscow to act in our countries

Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis has stated that Western countries should overcome their fear of Russia when it comes to supporting Ukraine.

Landsbergis emphasised ahead of a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels that fear of Russia is currently "the biggest issue in almost all the matters we address".

"We are afraid of what Russia might think, how Russia might react, how Russia might act, and this fear of ours looks like an invitation not only to take more aggressive actions in Ukraine through horrific attacks on civilian facilities, destruction of supermarkets, killing children, women, and innocent people, but also in an invitation to act in our countries," the minister stressed.

He recalled the sabotage campaigns and hybrid attacks that Russia has recently conducted in a number of NATO countries, and it acts "only because it feels that it has been invited and counts on the fact that we will not react in any significant way."

The minister said that the only way to respond to Russia's aggression in Ukraine and in other countries is to support Ukraine. In this context, he emphasised the need to give Ukraine permission to use Western weapons to strike Russian territory.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has called on NATO allies supplying weapons to Ukraine to lift the ban on their use in attacking military targets in Russia. 

The New York Times reported that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken wants Ukraine to be allowed to strike Russian territory with US-supplied weapons. He is seeking to convince President Joe Biden to lift the restrictions.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed in an interview with Reuters that Ukraine is in talks with international partners about the possibility of striking targets in Russia with their weapons.