Social Democrat leader calls foreign minister’s Kaliningrad remarks a mistake

Lithuania’s Social Democratic Party leader Mindaugas Sinkevičius has criticised Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys for his recent comments on NATO’s potential to neutralise Russian military capabilities in Kaliningrad, calling them “a mistake in both place and time,” public broadcaster LRT reports.

Speaking to TV3 News, Sinkevičius argued that Budrys’ remarks were ill-timed and lacked coordination with allies. “I believe this was a mistake—wrong place, wrong time. Multiple errors: discussing it at all, knowing the reaction it would provoke. When you speak on behalf of partners—did they authorise you to do so? The minister’s improvisations were excessive, untimely, and misplaced,” he said.

The criticism follows Budrys’ interview with Swiss newspaper Neue Zürcher Zeitung, where he stated that NATO must demonstrate its ability to “break through the small fortress Russia has created in Kaliningrad” and destroy its air defence and missile bases in a crisis. The Kremlin condemned the remarks as “anti-Russian,” while Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova accused Budrys of directly inciting an attack on a sovereign state, undermining European stability.

President Gitanas Nausėda acknowledged last week that Budrys’ statement was “not the most successful,” though he cautioned against a “lynch mob” response while urging restraint in such rhetoric. Prime Minister Ingrida Ruginienė, meanwhile, described the foreign minister’s words as “deterrence rhetoric.”

The comments come amid heightened tensions between the Baltic states and Russia, fuelled by a series of incidents involving drones in regional airspace. Russia has accused Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania of allowing their territory to be used for Ukrainian attacks on Russian targets in the Gulf of Finland—a claim firmly denied by Baltic officials.