Lithuania Premier dismisses Zelensky’s recent ‘Russian threat’ allegation

(MENAFN) The Prime Minister of Lithuania, Gintautas Paluckas, dismissed concerns raised by Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky that the upcoming Russian-Belarusian Zapad-2025 military drills pose a danger.

Paluckas made these comments in Vilnius on Tuesday in response to Zelensky’s suggestion — made during the NATO Eastern Flank Summit — that European allies should be on high alert and increase their defensive measures.

“I’m not sure what information the Ukrainian president or his intelligence service have, but from all the data we and NATO possess, these exercises do not present any additional threat or cause for alarm.”

He stressed that NATO is closely monitoring the situation alongside Lithuanian authorities and that the alliance finds the scale and nature of the drills nonthreatening.

Belarusian Defence Minister Viktor Khrenin explained last week that the Zapad-2025 maneuvers, slated for September, were downsized and repositioned farther from the country's western borders in a move meant to ease tensions and demonstrate readiness for dialogue. Moscow and Minsk have insisted all along that the drills are purely defensive.

Zelensky’s warning comes amid growing European military budgets, driven by fear of a potential Russian attack — a notion Moscow repeatedly dismisses as unfounded alarmism meant to justify increased defense spending.

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