The German official made the comments during a visit to Lithuania, where on Friday he and his Lithuanian counterpart, Arvidas Anusaskas, opened a command center that will allow the transfer of 5,000 soldiers.
“One thing is certain: we need to do more in the current situation,” he stressed, adding that “no one knows how far Putin’s grandiose illusions can go,” German public television, DW, said.
“The brutal Russian war of aggression in Ukraine is becoming more and more brutal and dishonest…the Russian threat of nuclear weapons shows that the Russian authorities have no concern,” he added.
President Vladimir Putin and other Russian officials have on several occasions referred to Moscow’s nuclear capabilities when addressing the role of the West in supporting Ukraine.
The White House said today there was no reason to change America’s nuclear strategy, saying there were no signs that Russia was preparing to use its nuclear weapons.
“We have no reason to adjust our strategic nuclear posture, nor do we have any indication that Russia is preparing to use nuclear weapons immediately,” White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre explained.
The clarification comes a day after President Joe Biden warned that the world was facing the risk of “nuclear catastrophe” for the first time since the Cold War.
In his remarks in Vilnius today, the German minister reiterated Berlin’s commitment to strengthening NATO’s eastern flank.
“We heard threats from Russia against Lithuania, which used European sanctions on the Kaliningrad border. They are not the first threats, we must take them seriously and be prepared”, he said, reinforcing that “we are on the side of our allies”.
Lithuania borders Russia’s ally Belarus and the Russian territory of Kaliningrad.
Germany sent its first troops to Lithuania in 2017 and agreed to increase its presence in Lithuania, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
On Friday, Lambrecht opened a permanent German command center in Lithuania.
At that time, he said, the center would help move a NATO contingent of 3,500 to 5,000 troops to Lithuania within 10 days if necessary.
About 1,600 NATO troops are currently stationed in Lithuania.
“The defense of Lithuania is the defense of Germany. It is to that common security commitment that we pledge today,” Lambrecht said at a ceremony at the Rukla military base.
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