Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda: Now is the time to make NATO even stronger. “For decades, the West has failed to understand what Russian President Vladimir Putin’s regime is about — namely expansionism, revisionism, violence, rule by fear and coercion.”
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Well, he’s not wrong about that. I try avoid using the word ‘evil’, but I reckon it’s an accurate description of Putin.
> Russia has been publicly challenging the West for at least the past 15 years. It has tried to gain the upper hand through aggressive action, first in Georgia in 2008, then in Ukrainian Crimea and Donbas in 2014. **Despite all this, some Western countries have continued business as usual with Moscow**, some even expanding their cooperation. For decades, the West has failed to understand what Russian President Vladimir Putin’s regime is about — namely expansionism, revisionism, violence, rule by fear and coercion. Russia is not interested in creation or cooperation, but rather in destruction and rule by force.
Since the Crimean invasion, Germany has been trading less with Russia (in percentage) than the Baltics.
> During the last 25 years the exports of Lithuania to Russia **have increased** at an annualized rate of 8.35%, from $552M in 1995 to $4.09B in 2020.
source: oec.world
In 2019, 2% of German exports/imports were to Russia.
14% of Lithuanian exports/imports were to Russia.
source: wits.worldbank
Who’s failing to understand what exactly ?
The west has made Russia economically viable through trade
Feel like it was more about ignorance,than the failure to understand.
Kick Turkey out of NATO!
(So that we can weaken nato)
“For decades, the West has failed to understand what ~~Russian President Vladimir Putin’s~~ every single Russian regime is about — namely expansionism, revisionism, violence, rule by fear and coercion.”
Fixed that – Russia have *always* been like this throughout its entire history. At it’s very core, it’s the Russian people. Putin is merely continuing Russia’s legacy.