"If something happens in our part of Europe, we think that in some way all of us will be involved. So we must prepare for situations where we need interoperability, where we need close contacts and where we need the possibility to operate together," Hultqvist said in an interview with the Baltic News Service.

Analysts say that it was the Russian factor that encouraged Sweden to become increasingly positive about being part of NATO, although the country's politicians have not yet initiated discussions on NATO membership.

Hultqvist said that, regardless of Sweden's NATO membership, cooperation with neighboring countries is crucial in the effort to further improve the capacities of national armies.

"From a non-allied perspective, you can do this. We are not changing our military doctrine," he said.

Asked whether Sweden would provide military assistance in case of crisis in Lithuania, the Swedish minister said he did not want to speculate about scenarios that could involve a large number of versions.

"But I think the most important thing is to discuss what we can do together in this area Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Finland and Sweden and all these countries. What can we do together is to prepare so we can handle a crisis situation together but also to make the threshold higher, so this crisis situation will not be a reality," Hultqvist said.