NATO countries would deploy additional military capabilities to Lithuania if Russian provocations in the region triggered a critical security situation, President Gitanas Nausėda’s chief national security adviser, Deividas Matulionis, said Tuesday.
The alliance is taking seriously warnings of an increased risk of Russian provocations in the Baltic region and elsewhere in Europe in the coming months, Matulionis assured.
“We have issued warnings and the alliance is taking this very seriously. If all indicators were to show that the situation is critical, I have no doubt that additional forces and air defence capabilities would be allocated,” he said.
Leaders of NATO’s eastern flank countries have recently issued public warnings, citing intelligence indicating that Russia is preparing provocations on their territory. In Lithuania, authorities have identified critical transport and energy infrastructure as potential targets and have recently strengthened security measures at those sites.
Matulionis said the provocations could take various forms, ranging from so-called false flag operations designed to shift blame onto Ukraine to acts of sabotage similar to those seen across Europe in recent years. He said the threat extends beyond the Baltic states to other countries providing strong support for Ukraine.
