UNITED NATIONS, New York – Lithuanian Foreign Affairs Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis shared with Fox News Digital his perspective as someone on the border of the Ukraine invasion, including concerns Russia can do “so much damage” even as its power wanes.

“In 2014, before the first war in Ukraine, people in the U.S. and … Western leaders would say ‘Russia is going down, it’s on its way down, its regional power – it’s not a global power anymore, its influence is waning,’” Landsbergis said. “But on its way down, it can do so much damage to its neighbors.” 

“It’s not the right assessment,” he added, saying that even if Russia were declining as much as Western leaders think, the death “convulsions” of such a great power could “last for decades.” 

“Who knows when or how it would stop … it’s a very difficult thing to imagine, to predict,” he said. 

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Lithuania has remained one of the most vocal nations in Eastern Europe throughout Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, even before the 2014 invasion of Crimea. Part of that has been to proudly embrace NATO’s role on the continent. 

While Lithuania fell far below the 2% required expenditure on defense in 2014, by 2021 – a full year before the invasion of Ukraine started – Lithuania had met the requirement and only continued increasing its defense expenditure.

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Lithuania in 2023 hit 3.2% expenditure, making it one of the highest-spending (by percent of GDP) members of NATO after only Poland, the U.S., Greece and Estonia.

Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielus Landsbergis, right, and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken hold a joint news conference in Vilnius, Lithuania, on March 7, 2022. (Olivier Douliery/Pool via Reuters)

Landsbergis used this – and the general increase in defense spending among NATO members over the past two years – to argue that European countries have proven their ability to “muster strength” and stand up to a power of Russia’s size.

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“Even the biggest critics should have to admit that more than $100 billion, now … I mean, it’s huge. Nobody really could have predicted that Europe would be able to do that,” Landsbergis said. 

Gabrielius Landsbergis (Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images/File)

“The question is: Is that enough? And does that forbid such action against your neighbor like Ukraine to be repeated in the future?” he said. “This is where we see a problem that Europe needs to grow because every industry in Europe needs to step up with its spending towards defense.”

When pressed on whether Europe lacks clear leadership or has stagnated in recent years, Landsbergis disagreed but acknowledged that the union has room to improve.

“The union is structured with 27 members and each with a veto, right?” Landsbergis noted. “It’s difficult to have a smooth process that doesn’t require a lot of debate or consensus building.”

“This is the way that we are currently at this juncture. There’s talk about the need for reform,” he added. “I think that it … will be happening. Europe has to adapt to the new requirements of this age and time, and maybe the principles change as well.” 

The move will boost the prime minister’s governing coalition domestically as Israel attacks countries across the region.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced that his former rival Gideon Saar is joining the Israeli cabinet, a move that will boost the government coalition and bolster its support in the country’s parliament.

The hawkish Saar will serve as a minister without a portfolio, the prime minister said on Sunday.

Saar’s inclusion in the government coalition takes its support in the 120-seat Israeli parliament from 64 to 68, weakening the de facto veto power that far-right parties have over the cabinet.

The move comes as Israel intensifies its attacks on Lebanon, Gaza and across the Middle East in what is increasingly looking like a wider regional war.

Saar had been one of Netanyahu’s most vocal critics in recent years, but the Israeli prime minister suggested that the two politicians have been on the same page since the start of the war on Gaza.

“Gideon accepted my request and agreed to return to the government,” Netanyahu said in a joint statement, as reported by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.

“During security cabinet discussions, I was deeply impressed by Saar’s broad vision and his ability to offer creative solutions to complex problems. On more than one occasion, we have seen eye to eye on the necessary actions. It’s no secret that we’ve had our differences in the past, but since October 7, we have both put all past grievances behind us.”

For his part, Saar said described the decision to join the government as “the patriotic and right thing to do now”.

“At this time, it is crucial to strengthen Israel, its government, and the unity and cohesion within it,” he said.

Earlier this month, Israeli media reported that Netanyahu was considering replacing Defence Minister Yoav Gallant with Saar. Haaretz and Ynet also reported that Saar and Netanyahu were jointly going to pick the new Israeli army chief to replace Herzi Halevi.

A former lawyer and journalist, Saar was first brought into politics 20 years ago by Netanyahu, who made him his cabinet secretary during his first term in office.

He was considered a rising star in Netanyahu’s Likud Party and one of the few independent voices in a party that has largely been synonymous with the prime minister and his policies.

Saar defected from Likud after unsuccessfully challenging Netanyahu for the party’s leadership. Late in 2020, Saar formed his own political movement – dubbed New Hope.

Expanding the government will likely strengthen Netanyahu by making him less reliant on other members of his coalition.