“We know that Russia is going to move forward,” Lithuanian Defense Minister Dovile Sakaliene told ABC News during her visit to Kyiv last weekend. “We in Lithuania, we remember very well. So, that means that we have to prepare ourselves.”

“This terrible threat is also an opportunity for us to grow the muscle where we need it to be,” Sakaliene added.

Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine from February 2022 served as vindication for NATO’s eastern-most nations, who for years had been warning their Western allies that Moscow could not be a reliable partner.

With President Donald Trump now seeking to press Moscow and Ukraine into a peace deal, Sakaliene said the West should focus on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s actions rather than his words.

“I don’t want to sound pessimistic, but t

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