DNIPRO, Ukraine — Tensions rose Tuesday over Russia’s threats against Lithuania, a North Atlantic Treaty Organization member, over the small Baltic state’s moves to enforce Western sanctions against Moscow. At the same time, Ukraine’s president said the Kremlin was “very nervous” over gathering momentum for his country’s bid to eventually join the European Union.
The increasing diplomatic friction comes against a backdrop of intense fighting for a pair of strategic cities in eastern Ukraine, a bloody war of attrition in which Russian forces are trying to wear down outgunned Ukrainian troops with unrelenting artillery barrages.
Western countries including the United States are sending Ukraine more heavy weaponry to try to counter Moscow’s military superiority in the battle for the country’s industrial heartland, but Ukraine has repeatedly appealed for additional armaments.
