NATO has failed to deter Russia and the West is still living in a completely "different time" than Moscow, which has mobilised its entire society and industry for war, says former Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaitė.
"We have failed to deter Russia [...] from going to war. We are still failing to explain to the people what needs to be done. We are still failing to arm [Ukraine] so that they can strike back," Grybauskaitė told a Vilnius University conference.
After Moscow annexed Crimea in 2014, Baltic politicians warned Western leaders about the threat posed by Russia, but there was no response.
"We were laughed at, criticised and not heard. Now, when we meet leaders, former leaders, they complain and say that we were right. But why are we not being listened to now?" the former head of state said.
She criticised the perception in the West that the war in Ukraine is a distant problem, saying it is the fault of the leaders for failing to convince their societies that Russia poses an existential threat.
"We are still living in peace, with some support for Ukraine, but Russia is living in a state of war, the whole of its society, its industry, is already at war, not only against Ukraine, but against the whole West. But we are not there yet. Why?"
She also criticised the mood towards the forthcoming NATO summit in Vilnius, where Ukraine will not be offered membership of the alliance in "straight talk", but will instead be offered support in complex, detailed statements.
"Again, this will be a mistake. Once again, we will fail to deter Russia," she said “This is disappointing because it shows that we are not able to learn from our mistakes, from what happened in Crimea, in Georgia.”
She claimed that Russia will become increasingly aggressive in the coming decades.
“Let's have no illusions, a large part of the society is imbued with imperial thinking, we cannot have illusions that it will ever be better. [...] That is why we have to increase our security today," said Grybauskaitė.
The Vilnius University (VU) conference "European Response. The War in Ukraine and New Challenges" was attended by former Lithuanian President Grybausktė, former Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves and outgoing Latvian President Egils Levitas.
