Beyza Binnur Donmez
16 August 2025•Update: 16 August 2025
GENEVA
Lithuania’s defense minister on Saturday criticized what she called “gaslighting and veiled threats” from Russian President Vladimir Putin following his meeting with US President Donald Trump in Alaska.
Quoting Trump's statement that "there’s no deal until there's a deal," Dovile Sakaliene said on US social media platform X that Putin's warning that Ukraine and Europe should not "sabotage the talks" was an attempt to shift blame.
She also criticized Putin's personal comment to Trump, in which the Russian leader said it was "very good to see you in good health and to see you alive."
"War criminal with an addiction of radioactive poisoning of his critics," Sakaliene wrote.
The minister said that Russia “continues bombing civilians in Ukraine.”
Trump and Putin were upbeat after their more than three-hour closed-door talks, with the Russian leader saying they had come to reach an "understanding."
After the meeting, Trump said that it is now up to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders "to get it done."
"A lot of points were agreed on, there's not that much, you know, one or two pretty significant items, but I think they can be reached," Trump said during a Fox News interview following his historic sit-down with Putin in Alaska.
"Now, it's really up to President Zelensky to get it done. And I would also say the European nations, they have to get involved a little bit, but it's up to President Zelensky," he added.
