“We must remember that every Russian statement that comes our way is a reminder that we must strengthen our security,” Landsbergis told reporters on Wednesday outside the Presidential Palace.
Russia summoned the diplomatic representatives of the three Baltic States on Monday, accusing them of trying to “sabotage” Russia’s presidential election due next month.
The Lithuanian foreign minister said statements like this must be taken seriously.
“We need to be attentive and take such statements seriously. We must not be lullabied. Russia is an aggressive state that has been carrying out active military actions against our partner Ukraine for years. To my mind, its aspirations for exerting pressure, at least diplomatic one, but perhaps other kinds as well, go further than Ukraine. Many countries in our region confirm that,” Landsbergis commented.
“We have no intention of giving in to unrealistic or incomprehensible political demands. This will never happen. We will only do what our international treaties say,” he said, adding that the Foreign Ministry sees no reason to react to another provocation by Russia.
Moscow accuses the former Soviet states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania of ignoring Russian requests to provide security for voting stations at its embassies on their soil, the AFP reports.
The Russian foreign ministry demanded that the three countries “take all necessary measures” to provide security for the embassies and voters on their soil to avoid “serious demonstrations by Russian citizens living in those countries”.
“If the sabotage continues, we will act in a decisive manner,” the ministry warned.
