INTERNATIONAL: Lithuania’s President Gitanas Nauseda on Monday March 7, has warned Washington’s top diplomat Antony Blinken that a failure to stop Russia’s aggression in Ukraine would lead to a global conflict.

Addressing the U.S. secretary of state as he began a tour of Baltic states, Nauseda has said Russian leader Vladimir Putin “will not stop in Ukraine” and that the world had an obligation to help Ukrainians “by all means available.”

NATO member Lithuania has sent military aid to Ukraine and has welcomed small numbers of Ukrainian refugees since Russia's invasion began on February 24.

Blinken has said the U.S. would defend "every inch of NATO territory" in the event of an attack, and has said supporting Ukrainians was "the most urgent matter".

Blinken met Nauseda before talks with Lithuania's foreign minister and prime minister and has visited neighbouring Latvia and Estonia on Monday and Tuesday.

NATO countries have ramped up their presence in the Baltic nations in recent weeks and more troops and equipment are on the way, policy makers have announced.

United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said an attack on one NATO ally is an attack on all. The United States with all its allies and partners will defend every inch of NATO territory should it come under attack and there should be no doubt about that on anyone's mind.