Lithuanian PM interprets foreign minister’s Kaliningrad remarks as deterrence rhetoric

Prime Minister Inga Ruginienė has characterised Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys’ recent statement on NATO’s potential to destroy military infrastructure in Russia’s Kaliningrad exclave as “deterrence rhetoric,” emphasising the need for measured responses amid rising tensions.

“I would assess the foreign minister’s statement more as an intent to employ deterrence rhetoric. We should focus more on using deterrence—not escalation—in our messaging,” Ruginienė told lawmakers in the Seimas on Thursday, as reported by LRT.

Her comments follow Budrys’ interview with Swiss newspaper Neue Zürcher Zeitung, where he asserted that NATO must demonstrate its capability to “break through the small fortress Russia has built in Kaliningrad.” He added that the alliance possesses the means to “completely destroy Russian air defence and missile bases there in a critical scenario.”

The Kremlin condemned the remarks, with spokesman Dmitry Peskov labelling them “anti-Russian” and Foreign Ministry representative Maria Zakharova accusing NATO of directly inciting an attack on a sovereign state, undermining European stability.

Kaliningrad remains a key Russian military hub, hosting missile systems capable of targeting the entire Baltic Sea region. The exchange coincides with heightened tensions between Russia and the Baltic states—Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania—over a series of incidents involving Ukrainian drones allegedly straying into Baltic airspace en route to Russian targets in the Gulf of Finland. Moscow has repeatedly accused the Baltics of enabling Ukrainian strikes from their territory, claims that regional officials firmly deny.