The only way to halt Russian President Vladimir Putin’s aggression against other countries is for Ukraine to succeed in the war, because the Russian empire has an unlimited appetite for other nations, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda told Al Jazeera television.

"I think if Putin will be successful, he will come after us. And this is not only Lithuania. The next target might be Moldova, Romania, other Baltic countries ... Poland," Nauseda said.

He said, "The appetite of this empire is just without any limits," and that there is "only one scenario [in which we] could avoid Putin’s aggression against other countries, [which] is for Ukraine's success in the war."

Nauseda said that “if Putin will be stopped there, it will probably be the end of his era and probably will mean some relief for democratic countries in Europe," which is why the outcome of this war is so important for the region.

However, Nauseda said, "If Putin will succeed in Ukriane, nobody can feel safe," saying that Putin's target nations in the future may even be a few at the same time.

Nauseda said that following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, "every country in the European Union [now] understands the true nature of [Putin's] regime and that the goal of this regime is to be aggressive and to swallow other countries."

The Lithuanian president said that previously, "there was an illusion among many [European countries] that we have to do business with the Kremlin regime no matter what is going on."

But he said that "only this war in Ukraine opened the eyes entirely, and it was a game changer in this regard. Now I don’t see any leader in the European Union, except maybe one or two, that blames Ukraine for the war or blames both countries."

Nauseda said it's now important for the eastern flank of NATO that “instead of talking all the time about deterrence [against Russia], we have to talk about forward defense."

When asked if such action would increase the risk of escalation by provoking the Kremlin, Nauseda said that Russia "is using this rhetoric to scare and intimidate us, but I don't think we should follow this manipulation and disinformation," pointing out that currently the Russian troops near the border outpace those of Lithuania by many times.

Naused also said that "if we will do nothing, it will be a direct invitation for Putin to proceed" for his ambitions to restore the Soviet empire.

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