Lithuanian PM’s team calls Russian praise propaganda

Lithuanian Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevičius’s team has dismissed comments by Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev about the prime minister as propaganda, LRT reported.

Dmitriev, a close associate of Russian President Vladimir Putin and an unofficial envoy in international negotiations, praised Sinkevičius for saying that threats from Russia should not be exaggerated. In a post on X, he claimed the European Union’s warnings about Russia were not based on facts and accused EU officials of using Russia as a scarecrow to distract from their failures.

Dmitriev was responding to Sinkevičius’s remarks at a joint news conference with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. Asked whether heightened fears about hybrid attacks and an exaggerated focus on threats could undermine confidence in Europe and serve Russia’s interests, Sinkevičius said a threat to society existed but should not be overstated.

“The threat to society does exist, but we cannot exaggerate it and say: ‘Oh, something will happen in the coming months or weeks,’” Sinkevičius said. He added that there was no intelligence evidence that Russia was preparing for such an action, and that the risk remained unchanged.

Rutte said at a Euronews event in Brussels on Wednesday that he saw no direct threat to NATO territory despite Russia’s recent nuclear threats. He said the threat level had not changed compared with recent weeks and months.

Asked to respond to Dmitriev’s comments, the prime minister’s team told LRT: “There is no point in commenting on propaganda ramblings.”

Sinkevičius visited Brussels on Tuesday, where he met Rutte, European Parliament President Roberta Metsola, representatives of the European Parliament and European Commission, and staff at Lithuania’s permanent representation to NATO.

Lithuanian intelligence said in its threat assessment this year that Moscow uses hostile activity to spread fear of war and chaos in European societies, weaken trust in state institutions and reduce support for Ukraine.