Lithuania will keep increasing military spending after hitting NATO's recommended level of 2 percent of economic output in the next two years, its finance minister said, as Russia builds up capabilities on the borders of its Baltic neighbors.

Relations with the West were damaged by Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea and deteriorated even further last week after a gas attack in Russia-backed Syria.

While Lithuania wants a show of unity in the EU, two years after joining the euro, it also leans on the side of fiscal discipline for Greece, as the Baltic nation takes part in its second batch of bailout talks.