“They’re losing, the front has been breached by the successful fallout from Ukraine, and that’s Putin’s response: more escalation,” Landsbergis told CNN on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York. “I think it should be dealt with, first of all, with calmness and determination. He expects us to be afraid, but we must be prepared.” In remarks overnight, Putin threatened to use “all means” at his disposal to respond to the West, saying: “I would like to remind them that our country also has various similar weapons and in some cases more modern ones weapons from NATO. To protect our people and to protect Russia, we will certainly use all means.” Landsbergis said he believes the Russian leader is bluffing. “I’m more concerned about people worrying about it than the actual rattling,” he said. “It should come as no surprise that Putin is an aggressive actor, that Russia is an aggressive country. We shouldn’t have expected him to have just a limited conflict with Ukraine, a limited war,” Landsbergis added.
