NATO must draw red lines for Russia over hybrid attacks - Lithuanian foreign minister

VILNIUS - Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis called on NATO on Tuesday to draw strict red lines for Russia over hybrid attacks and to send a unified message about the Alliance's response to such actions.

"We have to send a message to our partners that, look, we are in a territory of hybrid attacks. People are worried. And we have to send a very clear signal to Russians that there are red lines that you do not wish to cross," Landsbergis said at a joint press conference in Tallinn with his Estonian counterpart, Margus Tsahkna.

"This has to be done not just by the Lithuanian ministry, not just by the Lithuanian and Estonian ministries together; it has to be done by NATO. This has to be done by the most powerful allies in our Alliance," he said.

Lithuania's top diplomat said that an investigation is underway into Monday's crash of a DHL cargo plane in Vilnius and that "no option has been excluded so far", adding that the incident "is definitely worrying".

Landsbergis said that, in this context, allies must send a message both to Russian President Vladimir Putin and their own citizens that attempts by the aggressor to intimidate must stop, or else concrete action will be taken.

"And then it's up to NATO partners to agree in a more closed meeting as to what comes after 'or else', but it has to happen so that it sends a message not just to Putin but also to our people that this is being taken seriously and we're considering all options for how we respond in these cases," he said.

A Spanish national was killed and the other three crew members, a Spaniard, a German and a Lithuanian, were injured when the DHL cargo plane crashed near Vilnius Airport on Monday morning.

The Boeing 737, which was coming from the German city of Leipzig, was owned by Spain's Swift Air and used for transporting DHL parcels.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said on Monday that the crash could have been an accident or a "hybrid incident" involving outside actors.

Findings from ongoing investigations by Lithuanian law enforcement and aviation safety experts have so far not pointed to any external factors causing the crash.