Russia's military capabilities are three times greater than they were before the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Lithuanian Defense Minister Dovilė Šakalienė has said.
"Russia's military capabilities are already three times greater than they were when the large-scale invasion of Ukraine began three years ago. And all of this has happened in the context of an active war," the minister said in an interview with the 15min.lt news website published on Monday.
Russia is expanding its military industry, cooperating effectively with China, North Korea and Iran, and is capable not only of fighting in Ukraine, but also of rebuilding and expanding its capabilities, she said.
"Russia is reforming its military forces, expanding its personnel, developing its military industry, and doing so very rapidly. Europe should also step up in this area," Šakalienė said.
"The moment the front in Ukraine stops or slows down to the point where the losses on the Russian side are significantly reduced, the accumulation of capabilities for the next stages of the war, possibly with other countries, accelerates," she said.
Funding defence
Lithuania started increasing defence funding after Russia launched its large-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The Baltic country allocates just over 3 percent of its GDP for defence in this year's budget.
In January, Lithuania's State Defence Council set a goal of allocating 5 to 6 percent of the country's GDP to defence between 2026 and 2030 with the aim to establish a division within its military by 2030.
On Sunday, Lithuanian Prime Minister Gintautas Paluckas also said that European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen backs the idea of a more flexible interpretation of the Maastricht criteria if the budget deficit is driven by defence spending.
"The European Commission president supports not only Lithuania’s position but also the stance of similar countries, that the budget deficit rule should be interpreted differently when spending on defence and, say, other needs," Paluckas told journalists after meeting with von der Leyen in Vilnius.
"For a temporary period, there could be more flexibility regarding the criteria," he said.
Last year, European finance ministers agreed to the European Commission treating additional defence spending as a factor that would not trigger punitive EU action if the budget deficit exceeded 3 percent of GDP.
Finance Minister Rimantas Šadžius told BNS in an interview in late 2024 that the government plans to negotiate with the Commission for a derogation, as Lithuania looks for ways to increase its defence spending and risks exceeding the 3 percent of GDP budget deficit limit.
The derogation would allow the Maastricht deficit threshold to be exceeded, provided it is later offset by additional budget revenue.
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