Speaking on Thursday, the President of Lithuania announced the measures the country will take to protect itself against the looming threat of aggression from Russia.

“Today, I have signed a decree on introducing the state of emergency, which will be passed by the parliament in an extraordinary session,” Gitanas Nauseda said.

“We are talking about Lithuania’s external security and we are obliged to do everything we can to guarantee it without the slightest doubts,” the President declared.

The move comes after Russia’s dictator Putin ordered a full-scale brutal unprovoked attack on Ukraine.

Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmitry Kuleba, issued a statement in which he said that Moscow “has just launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.”

“This is a war of aggression…the world can and must stop Putin. The time to act is now,” the Minister said.

Western officials have been warning for months that Russia’s armed forces are amassing at the Ukrainian border to invade the country.

Russia has denied that it plans to attack and insists its actions in the Donbass are “defensive.”