Baltic presidents: Russia would not stop in Ukraine, so we must maintain support

“We should not think that Russia will win this war. But of course, if this happened, we would all be in danger: not only the Baltic countries, but the whole of Europe, the whole of the Western world. This is something that we must remind our partners – that this is not only an issue of countries with a common border, it is an issue of the entire Western world,” Estonian President Alar Karis said at a joint press conference on Monday.

The head of Lithuania, Gitanas Nausėda, said that he “hopes one hundred percent” that Ukraine will achieve victory on the battlefield and emphasized that otherwise the Kremlin would not stop.

“This regime, the Kremlin regime, has no final goal or final targets. This regime has a large number of targets and among them could be the Baltic countries, other countries in Eastern Europe, even in Central Europe. This is the reason why we must deal with a very dangerous regime and remain united to support Ukraine until the end and win this war. I hope it will be so,” he said.

Latvian President Edgaras Rinkevičius said that whether Russia would attack any of the Baltic or NATO eastern flank countries would depend on how well these countries would be prepared to withstand a possible attack and said that the three countries were making great efforts to minimize vulnerable. Also, according to the President of Latvia, the decision of Russia could be determined by the division of NATO, which is why it is important to make efforts to maintain unity.

According to him, the situation in Ukraine would also greatly determine this, but E. Rinkevičius urged not to get caught up in the “panic mood” that can be seen in the public space.

“It is possible that even without winning the war, Russia thinks that it is winning it: sometimes there is a difference between the real facts and their interpretation,” said the leader of Latvia, emphasizing that Russia is currently not winning in Ukraine.

According to E. Rinkevičius, the Kremlin’s strategy is a long war, hoping that it will influence the opinions of Western societies.

“One thing we have to keep in mind is a long-term war. Unfortunately, this war will not end in a few months or even years. This is what I say to my colleagues from NATO and European Union countries, that we must be ready,” said the President of Latvia.

He said that this is slowly being understood in most countries, but the mobilization of resources and military industry inevitably takes time.

Ukraine has recently struggled with Western support, which is dwindling as Kyiv’s counteroffensive weakens and Russian forces make new gains.