Lithuania seeks ouster of Vladimir Putin and his inner circle to thwart 'warmongering'

As the relentless Russian aggression against Ukrainian civilians transcends 70 days of the war, Lithuania on Tuesday asserted that top Kremlin leaders and Putin's inner circle must be removed if an immediate cessation of the ongoing hostilities needed to be attained. While speaking to CNN, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis lashed out at Russian President Vladimir Putin for escalating a "special military operation" against Ukraine and speculated that the Kremlin leader will become increasingly erratic as his battlefield casualties mount in Ukraine. 

Landsbergis further stressed that the US and Europe have to work strategically to penalise Russia for its "unlawful" actions against its neighbouring nation. 

'The whole system of Vladimir Putin needs to be changed': Lithuanian FM

"They also need to think strategically about the longer-term -- and until Putin and his enablers are gone, the world needs to be prepared that Russia might attack again, and not excluding NATO countries," Lithuanian FM told CNN. "Russia's warmongering state will be over when the regime is over in Russia. That's the only way that we see it," he added. When asked about his view on whether the West could adopt any action against Putin's regime, he categorically denied the same and said, "It might take quite some time for it to change, because we don't have any active means to change it." Landsbergis stressed that the whole system of Putin needs to be changed, otherwise he said, "it won't make any sense".

Lithuanian FM questions Putin's Victory Day address

Furthermore, while speaking about Putin's speech on Victory Day Celebrations, the Lithuanian Foreign Minister noted that there was a foul smell in his address. According to Landsbergis, there may be discontent among that inner circle regarding Russia's failures in the ongoing war. He stated he was surprised to watch Putin trying to "explain" why he started the war in his remarks.

"Who he is explaining it to? His public? Well, they don't need an explanation. Us? You know, we don't believe him. I mean, we know the facts, you know, we knew them all along," he told CNN.

It is pertinent to mention here that Lithuania has been supporting Ukraine ever since the onset of the war back in February. It was the first country that pushed for a robust response to counter Russia's military aggression-- the first country in the EU to block Russian gas. Last month, Lithuania's President Gitanas Nauseda also visited the war-torn country with other Baltic nation leaders and vowed his "unconditional" support to it. 

Image: AP