'Putin can only be stopped on the battlefield,' says Former Lithuanian Prez Grybauskaite

As Kyiv continues to put forth tough resilience against the Kremlin's aggressive troops, the former President of Lithuania, Dalia Grybauskaite claimed during an interview with the nation's state broadcaster that Russian President Vladimir Putin "can only be stopped on a battlefield." In the interview with LRT, the Former Lithuanian President said, "Phone calls to a terrorist, a murderer and an aggressor must be seen as such – as phone calls to a terrorist. (...) I have said from the beginning that Putin can only be stopped on the battlefield", Nexta reported. 

Apart from this, on May 29, Lithuania's Defence Minister, Arvydas Anusauskas asserted that Russia poses a "long-term threat to its security" and that the Russian invasion of Ukraine has had no significant impact on Lithuania's defence policy. He said, "It just proves that we are moving in the right direction," as per media reports. 

Anusauskas commented on Sunday, May 29, while presenting a report on the consequences of Russia's attack on Lithuania's defence strategy at a conference of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly's Defence and Security Committee. 

The worldwide defence strategy based on national and collective defence, as well as the participation of all civic institutions and society, is functioning, according to the Lithuanian Defence Minister. He further stated that Lithuania has raised its defence budget and that the Lithuanian Armed Forces' combat preparedness has also grown. He stated that Lithuania has contributed over 100 million euros in support to the war-torn nation, the majority of which has been in the form of dangerous weaponry. 

Lithuania declared Russia's confrontation with its neighbour to be genocide

In addition to this, earlier in May, amid the ongoing Russia Ukraine war, Lithuania declared Russia's confrontation with its neighbour to be genocide. The Lithuanian parliament passed a resolution on May 10 recognising Russia's conflict with Ukraine as genocide, according to media reports. The resolution passed with 128 votes in favour, with zero againsts, and no abstentions. It asserts that the Russian military and mercenaries perpetrated war crimes in Ukraine, citing Bucha, Irpin, Mariupol, Borodyanka, and Hostomel as examples. 

According to reports from LRT News, the resolution stated that Russia's goal is to destroy the Ukrainian country and its spirit by killing entire families, which includes children, abducting individuals, and degrading them and their corpses. The Seimas, Lithuania's parliament, declared the Russian Federation's armed forces and political and military leadership's complete armed aggression war against Ukraine to be genocide against the Ukrainian people, according to the resolution. It also highlights the significance of prosecuting all culprits and establishing a Special International Criminal Tribunal to investigate and sentence Russia's actions. 

Image: Twitter/@Grybauskaite_LT/ AP