Commander-in-Chief of the Lithuanian Armed Forces Rupshis: Vilnius raises the level of combat readiness, but does not expect an immediate threat from Belarus

Lithuania, alarmed by a hypothetical “Russian threat”, is raising its alert level due to joint exercises between Russia and Belarus. This was announced by the commander-in-chief of the armed forces of the republic, Valdemaras Rupshis, who was quoted by the news agency BNS.

“The level of vigilance is increasing so that we have time to respond to a change in the situation or a likely threat to us and be in the appropriate place with such capacities as are required,” said Rupshis, who believes that part of the Russian armed forces may remain on the territory of Belarus even after completion of the exercises. At the same time, he believes that there is no direct threat to Vilnius at the moment.

The concern of the US and the EU, including the Baltic countries, about a hypothetical Russian invasion of Ukraine is spurred on by both relevant reports from the world media, calling more and more new terms of the “invasion”, and the requirements for the US and NATO countries, voiced at the end of 2021 by the Russian Foreign Ministry. At the same time, both the leadership of NATO and individual countries of the defense alliance emphasize that its expansion to the east is beyond the competence of the Russian Federation and that only NATO itself can decide on the admission of new countries to the North Atlantic Alliance.