NATO Must Act to Stop Putin's Escalation, Warns Baltic Nations

Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis urges NATO allies to provide Ukraine with the military assistance it needs and to prove to Russian President Vladimir Putin that the alliance is not backing down after the deadly attack on a children's hospital in Kyiv.

Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis has warned that the deadly attack on a children's hospital in Kyiv this week is a test for the NATO alliance and urged member states to act to stop Russian President Vladimir Putin's escalation.

NATO Must Act to Stop Putin's Escalation, Warns Baltic Nations

"Attacking a children's hospital in Kyiv during the week of the NATO summit here in Washington clearly sends a political message. He expects us to discuss, and most likely, not to find a way how to address this," Landsbergis told Fox News Digital from the Lithuanian Embassy in Washington, D.C.

Landsbergis said Putin is banking on NATO not to respond due to its concerns that doing so will prompt further escalation between the West and Russia.

NATO Must Act to Stop Putin's Escalation, Warns Baltic Nations

"That's enough to send a message to Ukrainians that, look, your friends in the West cannot do much for you. Even your children, those who are suffering from cancer in a hospital, cannot be protected," Landsbergis said.

The foreign minister urged his colleagues in the NATO alliance to use this week to provide Ukraine with not only the military assistance it needs in the war, but to prove to Putin that the alliance is not backing down.

NATO Must Act to Stop Putin's Escalation, Warns Baltic Nations

"There has to be a price on Putin's escalation," Landsbergis said. "You cannot just play on defense and expect the other side to somehow stop. Putin is clearly not planning to stop."

"He just continues his escalation and that means that we have to meet him, or assist Ukrainians to meet him," he added.

NATO Must Act to Stop Putin's Escalation, Warns Baltic Nations

The U.S. has implemented bans on all U.S.-made missiles being used to strike targets in Russia, though an exception was granted for military targets near the Kharkiv border. Landsbergis and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg have urged all nations to abandon strike-based stipulations as the capability would enable Kyiv to hit airfields, arms depots, and vessels off the coast of Ukraine.

The White House on Monday said that despite the repeated deadly attacks on Ukrainian civilians, there would be no changes to the U.S.'s policy, prompting a sense of growing frustration with Washington ahead of the summit.

A source involved with the NATO talks confirmed that several allies, including the U.S., are unwilling to change their position when it comes to countering Putin, despite repeated urging from Ukraine and fellow NATO nations.

"This could definitely be an opportunity to push back, if the U.S. will allow additional targets to be targeted inside Russia. But so far, I don't see any signs of any movement in that direction," the source confirmed Tuesday. "Most likely we will just eat whatever is served by Russia."

Washington's refusal to heighten its response to Putin's aggression also means that Ukraine is unlikely to see a concrete path to membership, despite reports suggesting that NATO's communiqué will use targeted language like "irreversible" to describe Kyiv's ability to join.

"The sense from the U.S. is that there is a 100 percent understanding that any real move closer to NATO for Ukraine is an escalation," the source involved with the NATO talks confirmed. "Each article should have at least 10 paragraphs."