BRUSSELS -- Russia's invasion of Ukraine shows that "full-fledged war is an instrument of their policy, and therefore we have to be prepared to confront such a reality," Deividas Matulionis, Lithuania's ambassador to NATO, told Nikkei ahead of the alliance's summit here Thursday.
The meeting is expected to cover not only the Ukraine conflict, but also bolstering the defenses of former Soviet states in eastern Europe and the Baltic region that many fear may be in Russia's sights as well. These include Lithuania, which borders the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad as well as Belarus, where Moscow holds growing sway.