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Lithuania’s Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte warned in an interview on Friday, February 11, against assuming Russia was bluffing in regard to the possible invasion of Ukraine. Speaking to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) in Kyiv, Simonyte said Russia’s invasions of Georgia in 2008 and Crimea in 2014 had prompted a change in how Russia’s ambitions are viewed. “Ten years ago, 12 years ago, before Georgia, nobody actually believed there can be an invasion in the bright day of a sovereign country,” Simonyte said, adding that there was no “real reaction” to Russia’s actions. Simonyte, however, said Lithuania believed Russia’s ambition was to expand. “I call this Soviet Union 2.0, but some other analysts would say this mission is more about empire, Russian empire, than the Soviet Union,” she said. “But this ambition is actually real – that you can risk things like that in the middle of the day in the 21st century. So, after Crimea, I think there was quite a significant shift, and quite a significant awakening, but I still think quite many might take what is happening for bluffing,” she said. Simonyte also urged the European Union to respond with “unprecedented” speed should Russia invade Ukraine. As an example, she pointed to the EU’s swift imposition of sanctions against Belarus in May 2021 after a Ryanair flight was forced to divert to Minsk so authorities could remove and arrest a journalist on the plane, according to RFE/RL. Simonyte had arrived in the Ukrainian capital on Thursday, met President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky and Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal, and on Friday traveled with Shmyhal to the conflict-torn eastern region of Luhansk where she met troops. She pledged to increase the number of Lithuanian military instructors in Ukraine and to send equipment and weapons, including Stinger anti-aircraft missiles, to the country. “I hope and sincerely wish that Ukraine never has to use them,” she added. Credit: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty via Storyful
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