Lithuania reveals evacuation plan for its capital's 600,000 civilians as the NATO member tells of fears it will be next nation invaded by Putin
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Lithuania's capital Vilnius on Wednesday presented an evacuation plan in case of war, as the NATO member revealed its anxieties that Russia could target it next after its invasion of Ukraine.
Lithuania, a NATO and EU member, has been a staunch ally of Ukraine since Vladimir Putin's 2022 invasion, and has since ramped up defence spending and training.
The three main evacuation routes run west, 'as the enemy has historically come from the east', Vilnius's Mayor Valdas Benkunskas said at a press conference.
'We do not want to cause panic,' he said. 'Our goal is clear: to have a plan, to have coordination between institutions, to know who is responsible for what, and to trust our defence forces... hoping that this plan will never need to be activated.'
The city aims to hold evacuation drills in the autumn.
Vilnius is just 20 miles from the border with Belarus, which Russia used as a springboard for its Ukraine invasion.
Lithuanian officials fear Moscow could repeat the scenario for any attack on the Baltic country.
In September, Russia and Belarus will hold the Zapad military drills, which in previous iterations drew tens of thousands of troops close to borders with Poland and the Baltic states.
Vilnius authorities have said the city of over 600,000 residents could be fully evacuated within 48 hours.
The evacuation plan is also a response to threats from natural disasters or incidents at the Ostrovets nuclear plant in Belarus.
Lithuanian authorities had previously staged decontamination drills and handed out iodide tablets to Vilnius residents in case of an incident at Ostrovets, a Russian-built facility about 50 kilometres from the capital.
Lithuania says the nuclear plant is unsafe, an allegation denied by Minsk and Moscow.
It comes as US President Donald Trump on Wednesday said a deal on halting the Ukraine war was 'very close,' but slammed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky over his refusal to formally cede Crimea to Russia.
'It's inflammatory statements like Zelensky's that makes it so difficult to settle this War,' Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
The outburst came after US media reports said Trump was ready to accept recognition of annexed Crimea as Russian territory, and after Vice President JD Vance said land swaps would be fundamental to any deal.
In his post, Trump was referring to Zelensky's comments, published in the Wall Street Journal Wednesday, in which he said that ceding Crimea is against Ukraine's constitution.
'Ukraine will not legally recognize the occupation of Crimea,' Zelensky was quoted as saying. 'There is nothing to talk about here.'
Trump lambasted Zelensky over the remarks.
'This statement is very harmful to the Peace Negotiations with Russia,' Trump said, adding that if Ukraine 'wants Crimea, why didn't they fight for it eleven years ago when it was handed over to Russia without a shot being fired?'
He added: 'The statement made by Zelenskyy today will do nothing but prolong the 'killing field,' and nobody wants that!'
'We are very close to a Deal, but the man with 'no cards to play' should now, finally, GET IT DONE.'
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