"The security situation would not change even if the war was actually stopped. There should be no doubt that this Russia, today's Russia, Putin's Russia, is a completely different country," Landsbergis told reporters ahead of a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels.

Therefore, he said, the Alliance must reflect the current situation, take action to defend its eastern flank and be ready to give military response to threats.

"NATO needs to reflect this reality, both politically and security-wise. We hope that this will be the case in our talks and discussions this evening. We want our allies and the NATO organization as a whole to step up their plans to really defend the eastern flank, to defend the Baltic states, to defend Lithuania. Not just to deter, not just to send a political message that something will happen in the event of an attack. Every one of us has to be there and we have to be ready to actually send a military response if something is attempted on NATO's borders", Landsbergis said.

He expressed hope that the changed approach to the defense of the Alliance's eastern flank would be reflected in the meeting documents.

"I'm coming with the hope that the talks and discussions tonight and tomorrow will show a change in our strategic approach to the defense of the eastern flank. Unfortunately, so far we have not seen a significant change in preparations for this. I think now is the right time for this to be reflected in the conclusions and documents that we can produce," Landsbergis said.

On Wednesday in Brussels, the Lithuanian foreign minister and his NATO counterparts will discuss Russia's war in Ukraine and the Alliance's defense.

Both NATO and EU members are also expected to discuss additional sanctions for Russia.

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