Russia has no right to dictate to NATO what to do, German Defence Minister Christine Lambrecht said during her first foreign visit to Lithuania on Sunday.
Last week, Moscow released demands regarding NATO expansion and activity in Central and Eastern Europe.
“We need to clearly tell Russia that it has no right to dictate to NATO partners on how they should behave,” Lambrecht told reporters in Rukla on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Lithuanian Defence Minister Arvydas Anušauskas said that Russia should not be allowed “to draw new red lines”.
“One cannot divide Europe into security spheres, countries cannot be barred from choosing their security orientation,” the minister said.
Unacceptable demands
Last Friday, Russia issued a series of security demands to NATO and the United States, stating that the Alliance cannot accept any new members and should not set up any military bases in post-Soviet countries.
The document also calls for the introduction of restrictions on the deployment of missiles and says NATO members should commit to not expanding the bloc any further.
Addressed to the United States, the draft security treaty also states that Washington should block any post-Soviet countries from joining NATO.
Russia has been demanding that NATO renounce plans to accept Georgia and Ukraine in the future.
Anušauskas says Russia's demands are aimed at dividing NATO, weakening the Alliance's eastern flank and eliminating the US presence in Europe.
“Such demands are unacceptable, if we think about the security of our countries,” Anušauskas said.
Lambrecht says NATO countries will discuss Russia's demands later this week.
Strong commitment
In Rukla, Lambrecht met with German troops serving in the German-led NATO battalion. It has been stationed in Lithuania since 2017 and currently involves around 1,100 troops, half of them German.
“It shows Germany's strong commitments to the security of our region,” Anušauskas said.
Lambrecht said she specifically chose Lithuania for her first foreign visit in order to “support our allies and send a message of unity”.
“We stand strong on the side of our partners and friends and we will continue with great cooperation of our armed forces,” the German minister said.
She said she perfectly understood the Baltic states' concerns about security in the region.
Anušauskas said Russia had deployed forces in its Kaliningrad region “ten times bigger” than the Rukla-based international battalion.
“In this situation, Russia's demands [...] are just impossible. It’s impossible to implement them and I think they should be rejected,” the Lithuanian minister said.
Similar NATO-led international units have been deployed in the other Baltic countries and Poland.
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