In response to the Russian war against Ukraine, NATO allies are actively strengthening their own eastern flank, moving additional forces to Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, as well as Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Bulgaria. However, according to Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda, the defense of NATO's eastern allies should not be limited to the transfer of soldiers, since Russia is clearly preparing to attack the countries of the Alliance.. He stated this today at the Atlantic Council conference..

“Strengthening defense is a matter not only of personnel, but also of weapons. Therefore, we must talk not only about defense on land, but also in the sky.. We need air defenses, we need missile defenses so we can close our skies.. Now this is not there,” Nauseda said during a conference at the Atlantic Council..

He also recalled the threat lurking in the Suwal corridor. And against the backdrop of the Russian war in Ukraine, as well as the deployment of Russian troops in Belarus, this threat is of particular concern to Vilnius.

“I welcome the recent deployment of NATO troops to Poland. But the positions of the Lithuanian side should also be protected.. We must ensure that Russian troops will not be able to take advantage of the strategic advantage in the Suwalki corridor,” Nauseda said, recalling that Lithuania, on the one hand, has a common border with the Kaliningrad region, and on the other, with Belarus, where the Russian army is now based..

He stressed that Moscow should not be allowed to quickly take control of the Suwalski corridor.. Otherwise, in the event of a conflict, this will completely cut off the Baltic countries from the help of other NATO countries..

In turn, Estonian President Alar Karis called for the permanent deployment of significant NATO forces in the Baltic countries..

“We expect that the corresponding decision will be made at the summit in Madrid.. It will also be possible to discuss there what to do with the money that Russia receives from the sale of oil and gas,” he said..

For his part, President Egils Levits stressed that it is time for NATO in the Baltics to move from a strategy based on the deployment of rapid reaction forces to direct defense.

“Our countries must have enough troops to hold the territory in the event of a Russian attack.. This means we need to send more troops here, I mean the entire eastern flank..

I think this is a necessary step so that NATO can fulfill its mission of protecting the security of the participating countries,” the President of Lithuania is convinced.

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Earlier it was reported that all NATO allies agree that the use of chemical, biological or nuclear weapons against Ukraine by the Russian army will change all calculations completely.. And the alliance will be forced to give the toughest and most decisive response. This was stated by the presidents of the Baltic countries at a conference at the Atlantic Council.