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Baltic Leader Cites ‘Very Bad Cocktail’ of Threats From Belarus

  • Lithuanian leader Nauseda says ‘we need boots on the ground’
  • Nauseda cites danger from Wagner, nuclear weapons, ‘rhetoric’
Jens Stoltenberg, left, and Gitanas Nauseda in Vilnius, Lithuania, on July 10.
Jens Stoltenberg, left, and Gitanas Nauseda in Vilnius, Lithuania, on July 10.Photographer: Andrey Rudakov/Bloomberg

Lithuania’s president called on NATO members to deploy more troops to the Baltic region, citing a “very bad cocktail” of new threats from Belarus. 

President Gitanas Nauseda said enemy forces could arrive at Lithuania’s border in a “matter of a few hours,” citing the potential presence of Russian mercenaries from the Wagner Group, tactical nuclear weapons and new “aggressive rhetoric” from Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.