{"id":360643,"date":"2025-08-20T23:42:16","date_gmt":"2025-08-20T23:42:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/360643\/"},"modified":"2025-08-20T23:42:16","modified_gmt":"2025-08-20T23:42:16","slug":"the-3-countries-preparing-for-putin-invasion-for-when-ukraine-war-ends-world-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/360643\/","title":{"rendered":"The 3 countries preparing for Putin invasion for when Ukraine war ends | World | News"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Baltic state on the border with the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad<\/a> has set out plans to defend itself from invasion. Lithuania<\/a>, a former Soviet Republic, which shares a border with Belarus<\/a> and the small Russian territory, has developed a 30-mile-deep defensive plan including minefields and bridge primed with demolitions to protect itself in the event of invasion<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Lithuania, along with neighbours Latvia<\/a> and Estonia<\/a>, are fortifying their borders with Russia<\/a> and its allies as fears mount that the United States could be orchestrating a peace deal on favourable terms to the Kremlin<\/a>. It is hoped that the work will deter Russia<\/a> from any future invasion and little action has been taken by the three countries to hide construction of the line. Once complete, the \u201cBaltic defence line\u201d will stretch across the three countries from Kaliningrad in the west to the mouth of the River Narva in the east.<\/p>\n

Masterminds behind the line\u2019s creation have insisted that the plan is not to necessarily build a barrier to prevent an invasion, but to \u201ccanalise\u201d enemy troops in the event of one by slowing down their advance and forcing enemy troops into areas that are easier for a defending force to engage.<\/p>\n

Consisting of around 1,000 concrete bunkers, anti-tank ditches and logistical supply lines, the line aims to better prevent the three countries, with a 600-mile border with Russia<\/a> from suffering a similar fate to that of Ukraine<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But some fear that the 10-year project could come too late, with the Russian bear on the march westwards and confident of consolidating gains<\/a> within Ukraine<\/a>\u2019s sovereign territory.<\/p>\n

Gabrielius Landsbergis, who served as Lithuania\u2019s foreign minister until November, told the Telegraph<\/a>: \u201cPutin is not going to let us wait those 10 years.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe most dangerous time for the Baltics will be immediately after a ceasefire in Ukraine<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

The project is forecasted to cost each country around \u00a360 million, a significant proportion of their defence budget but a drop in the ocean compared to the vast sums required to fight a prolonged conflict against a superior-sized force.<\/p>\n

Within the first few months of Putin\u2019s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine<\/a>, the Russian Army seized a greater around 54,000 miles of territory, double the size of Lithuania, adding weight to fears that the country would be less able to defend itself than Kyiv was.<\/p>\n

Mr Landsbergis added: \u201cWe lack the strategic depth. Russians could move through the whole country in hours, if not days. This is why we defend from the first inch.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow much are you doing yourself before you ask for our help \u2013 when will you start digging trenches and mining your border?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Baltic state on the border with the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad has set out plans to defend…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":360644,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[126756,69686,2993,126758,1114,2597,2821,12,332,7661,126757,771,26],"class_list":{"0":"post-360643","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-baltic-defence-line","9":"tag-baltic-states","10":"tag-defence","11":"tag-gabrielius-landsbergis","12":"tag-lithuania","13":"tag-military","14":"tag-nato","15":"tag-news","16":"tag-russia","17":"tag-russia-ukraine-war","18":"tag-russian-invasion-fears","19":"tag-war","20":"tag-world"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115063746959028107","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/360643","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=360643"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/360643\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/360644"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=360643"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=360643"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=360643"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}