The exercise was not reported

“There will be a joint exercise” Allied Determination 2022 “. Their purpose is a defensive operation designed to prevent and repel external aggression. Also counter-terrorist actions and protection of the interests of the union state “,” It is planned to prepare the forces to act not only in the sectors assigned to them, but also to prepare to respond to unexpected crises wherever they occur, “said Russia and Belarus before the exercise. A. Anušauskas appreciated such statements.

“Russia continues to escalate. The situation is not improving already during the escalation, the opposite is happening – it is mobilizing new capacity. Capacity is concentrated not anywhere, but in the northern part of Ukraine, on the outskirts of Poland and Lithuania. In this case, it is a further escalation, diplomatic negotiations or conversations are not only considered as the pace and maneuvers of time, “he explained.

According to A. Anušauskas, the “external threat” mentioned in the Russian and Belarusian languages ​​is NATO.

“I think they mean NATO nations first and foremost, because they have an image that they have consistently nurtured for many years,” NATO’s image as a hostile alliance. Although the capabilities that NATO countries have in the region are significantly smaller than Russia’s. “NATO countries do not have nuclear weapons in the region, they do not have the same anti-aircraft capabilities as Russia, they do not expand the capabilities at the speed that Russia is doing in the Western District and the Kaliningrad region,” the Minister said.

A. Anušauskas discussed the exercise “Allied Determination 2022”.

“These exercises are not planned in advance, the neighbors were not informed about them in any way, although large-scale exercises are taking place anyway, it is a practice that at least the neighboring countries are informed about it. On the other hand, as Russia itself has created a crisis concentration on the Ukrainian border, in the current situation, the concentration of capabilities in Belarus is an escalation of the further situation and an increase in the state of the threat region, ”the man explained.

Full report – in LNK video:

“As Russia continues to escalate, NATO nations are determined to strengthen capabilities in the eastern flank, because NATO’s defense alliance cannot be divided into any sector where there is more or less security according to Russia’s requirements. “We are definitely not going to sacrifice our security, given Russia’s demands, which are to disarm our neighbors and leave them barefoot against Russian aggression,” the minister said.

According to A. Anušauskas, Russia should not go down.

Decision-making forces have a very short chain of Vladimir Putin and the commander.

“From a political point of view, making concessions at the expense of security never strengthens security itself. This can simply further encourage potential aggressors and all the examples in history show this. “It will always lead to more instability if unjustified discounts are made,” he added.

A threat to Lithuania as well

According to A. Anušauskas, Russian troops deployed in Belarus are of concern to Lithuania.

“As we thought that Russia, using the tensions it had confirmed at the Ukrainian border, would try to use some of its forces to Belarus, it was already discussed in November. Now we see this very process. Russia’s capabilities are being thrown into Belarus under cover of an exercise. Such is the official legend. However, the tense situation around Ukraine suggests that these forces may be used both against Ukraine and against other countries in the region, ”said A. Anušauskas.

Scanpix photo

On the Lithuanian-Belarusian border, the positions of soldiers due to illegal migrants have been strengthened. However, according to the Minister, the exercise in Belarus does not encourage Lithuania to gather even more troops at the border.

“Lithuania is a small country, we do not need to move towards the border. But the strengthening of the vigilance of our capabilities, the strengthening of preparations and other measures carried out by the Lithuanian Armed Forces are all done and done, ”he assured.

There are also concerns about the transfer of nuclear weapons from Russia to Belarus.

“It is too late for us to worry, because the nuclear weapon is in the Kaliningrad region, on the outskirts of Lithuania, in fact, not so far from the Lithuanian border. But this situation is due to the fact that Alexander Lukashenko wants a nuclear weapon to be on Belarusian territory. But how Russia has implemented that desire and whether it will be seen is another matter. Now we cannot confirm such information, but, of course, the threat, “A. Anušauskas admitted.

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On Wednesday, Lithuanian representatives met with NATO ambassadors. A. Anušauskas told what was discussed at the meeting.

“Since the initiative of the meeting was on our side, we first expressed our needs. Our need is a greater presence of NATO allies in Lithuania. “This is a deterrent, a preventive measure aimed at ensuring that the situation in the region is not such that Russia has capacity everywhere around Lithuania, and additional deterrent measures have not yet been launched in Lithuania,” the man said.

According to A. Anušauskas, military capabilities of other states are already deployed in Lithuania.

“Our capacity is constant. There is a U.S. battalion and a front NATO battalion. I think those couple form the basis of the union of soldiers in Lithuania to be here in Lithuania. And separately there is the air police. “It will be doubled in a week, as Russia has already declared that it will send an additional twelve other fighter planes on the Belarusian side,” he said.

A. Anušauskas said that it is real that Russia will attack Ukraine.

“I think those threats are very real. “Vladimir Putin and the commander have a very short decision-making force,” the minister said.