"Anti-Putin summit" in Lithuania: First details are leaking out
Created: 05/28/2022, 04:51
By: Tobias Utz
An “anti-Putin summit” is apparently taking place in Lithuania on Friday.
The first details are now being made public.
+++ 3.45 p.m .:
So far, hardly any details about the alleged “anti-Putin summit” in Lithuania have been made public.
According to a media report, numerous European leaders from politics and society are said to have been invited by the Lithuanian foreign minister (see initial report).
Annalena Baerbock and Gabrielius Landsbergis make statements.
(Archive photo) © Janine Schmitz / Photothek.de / Imago Images
The event appears to be the “Vilnius Russia Forum”.
The event has been organized since 2013, i.e. in 2022 for the eighth time.
According to information from the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry, the Ukraine war is the focus of international consultations this year, in which numerous NGOs are also expected to take part.
Among other things, restrictions on freedom should be discussed.
According to the Bild newspaper report on Friday morning, the main discussion is how Ukraine can be "deputinized".
According to this, three possible scenarios for the further course of the Ukraine conflict were already being worked out on Friday:
Scenario #1:
Putin is replaced in the Kremlin.
A putsch would be necessary for this, probably militarily.
In the report, a suspected participant in the "anti-Putin summit" is quoted as saying: "Any kind of change is a step forward in the current situation." However, an autocratic regime could remain.
Recently, rumors have been circulating that there is unrest in the Kremlin.
Domestic political pressure in Russia is growing steadily in view of the partly failed invasion plans in Ukraine.
Apparently, a search is already underway for a Putin successor.
Scenario #2:
The Russian people rise up.
The advisory group apparently considers mass demonstrations as a means of overthrowing Putin to be a realistic scenario.
How mass protests in Russia are being suppressed was already evident at the beginning of the invasion.
There were dozens injured.
What speaks against mass protests is the constant propaganda in Russia.
Most of the media landscape is controlled by the Kremlin.
The information situation is therefore very poor.
For example, in Reporters Without Borders' press freedom ranking, Russia is 155th out of 180.
Scenario #3:
democracy instead of autocracy.
According to the report, scenario 3 envisages Russia as a “big Ukraine” – in other words: the current ruling regime would be revolutionized from within.
This is probably the most unlikely of the three scenarios.
Details of how this could be achieved are not given.
"Anti-Putin Summit": Apparently Secret Meeting in Lithuania - "Killing the Russian Bear"
First report from Friday, May 27, 8:30 a.m.:
Vilnius/Moscow – Media reports are currently circulating about a possible “anti-Putin summit” in Lithuania, which is to take place on Friday (May 27).
The basis is the reporting of the Bild newspaper.
According to the report, high-ranking politicians, human rights activists and journalists from all over Europe were invited by Lithuania's Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis.
Defense Minister Shoigu (left) and President Putin (right) recently visited wounded Russian soldiers in a hospital.
© Mikhail Metzel / AFP
According to the report, the aim of the "anti-Putin summit" is to develop plans for "deputinizing" Ukraine.
In addition, it is important to "slay the Russian bear", apparently referring to Vladimir Putin.
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Ukraine-News: Will an "anti-Putin summit" take place in Lithuania?
In this context, the Bild newspaper quotes a supposed participant at the summit.
“Putin has gone too far with the brutal war against Ukraine.
Since the beginning of the war, tens of thousands of Russians have had to pay with their lives for his megalomania.
If we don't rid Russia of him now, when will we?" stresses the anonymous person.
The Lithuanian Foreign Minister Landsbergis has not yet commented on this.
Other top European politicians also made no statements.
The reporting of the Bild newspaper cannot be checked independently.
The heavy Russian losses in the Ukraine war mentioned by the anonymous source are disputed.
The Ukrainian General Staff reports that almost 30,000 soldiers of the Russian army have been killed.
Despite the fact that Putin admitted losses in his speech on May 9, the Kremlin speaks of a maximum of 2,000 dead armed forces in the Ukraine war.
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