Putin will continue his war until West pushes back, Lithuanian ex-foreign minister believes

Gabrielius Landsbergis, Lithuania's former Minister of Foreign Affairs, has warned of the dangers posed by the emergence of pro-Russian parties in Europe as well as shared his thoughts on Russia's hybrid warfare and the situation in the Baltic Sea.

Landsbergis believes that if Europe wants to preserve its existence, it must push back Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin.

"Because Putin will continue to wage war – whether in Ukraine, Lithuania or Germany," he stressed in an interview with t-online.

In this context, Landsbergis advised to pay attention to social media.

"Putin is waging a hybrid war: he is interfering in elections across Europe and supporting radical and anti-democratic forces. We are currently seeing this in Romania and Georgia," Landsbergis added.

Landsbergis stressed that "elections are no longer decided at the ballot box, but on social networks controlled by Russia or China".

In response, the journalists brought up recent incidents in the Baltic Sea, which are seen as part of Russia’s hybrid war. They asked Landsbergis what the West could do to counter this threat.

Landsbergis replied that NATO should make it clear to Russia that patrols in the Baltic Sea will intervene if there are suspicions.

"They must be able to stop and board suspicious ships and arrest the crews. Putin must be made aware of this: If you make a wrong move, we will come after you," he said.

Landsbergis also believes that Putin will only de-escalate if the West escalates.

"He doesn't want to fight against a strong NATO," Landsbergis concluded.

NATO has announced the launch of a new monitoring mission in the Baltic Sea involving patrol ships and aircraft aimed at preventing any attempts to attack underwater infrastructure in the region. This NATO operation was launched in response to the discovery on 25 December 2024 of damage to submarine cables between Estonia and Finland, with the aim of preventing possible attempts to damage undersea infrastructure and strengthening regional security.

On 17 January, a French military aircraft conducting a reconnaissance flight as part of NATO’s operation in response to Russia's suspected damage to underwater cables was targeted with an "attempted jamming" and "’illumination’ by a fire-control radar". ["Illumination" is military parlance for using radar to target an object – ed.].