Meanwhile, Lithuanian Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius, leader of the conservatives, expressed belief that Russia, which is still lagging behind Western Europe, should in the long run become a normal European country without its imperial ambitions.
"The main problem with Europe is its lack of unified foreign policies, policies for relations with Russia. [Russia's President Vladimir] Putin has been making active use of this. He is well aware of differences between Germany, France and Italy on one side and Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and Poland on the other. (…) He thinks that a discount of a few percent on gas prices for Germany would settle all problems. Such policies, which [Germany's former chancellor Gerhard] Shroeder was a symbol of, (…) means buying off the West. We should always brace ourselves against strategic values. If you follow tactical calculations, let's say – a 10 percent discount on gas prices – Putin is willing to give the discount, however, I am not certain that this would bring a long-term strategic benefit. You may have to give something back later," Nemtsov said.
"If you had to choose between gas and values – always go for values," he said in his address to participants of the meeting.
Nemtsov applauded the achievements of the Russian opposition – after the Russian presidential elections in March, the opposition managed to bring 120,000 protesters to the streets. In his words, the current goal is to lead 1 million people in protest of the Putin regime.
He said the objective would help to reason people out of their fears, the Putin administration can no longer refer to the opposition as marginals.
Meanwhile, the Lithuanian prime minister said that Russia was in a post-imperial status and would in the long run become a normal European country.
"Russia is living in a post-imperial condition and is in the process of healing, it takes time, it is difficult, it takes a long time," Kubilius said.
In his words, Russia needs help to become a normal country with enormous energy resources.
"Europe gets half of its gas from Norway and the second half comes from Russia. I cannot recall Norway suffering from any imperial ambitions due to the fact that it supplies half of European gas. A normal energy market should develop in Europe, with the third package, all unbundling schemes, which will create very clear terms and conditions on how a country like Russia and its energy business should operate in market conditions. I see this as an opportunity to help Russia. If Europe does not kill itself in the nearest future, Russia stands good chances of becoming a normal European country," the prime minister concluded.
Russia sees Lithuania as American spy
According to Nemtsov, the relations between Vilnius and Moscow are poor due to the fact that Lithuania is a free and democratic country, while Russia is an authoritarian militia country.
"In many cases, (the relations) are complicated or even poor. There is a high degree of mistrust because Lithuania is a free and democratic country, whereas Russia is an authoritarian militia state. Russia's President Vladimir Putin views you as American spies, which is true paranoia," Nemtsov said in an interview published in the Lietuvos Rytas daily on Monday.
"Everything would be settled, if Russia were a democratic country, as nobody fears democracy in Lithuania. Everybody would benefit from an improvement in bilateral relations. However, no improvements have been observed so far. Russia and Lithuania speak different languages," the politician said.
Speaking about Russia's democratization, Nemtsov said that changes could occur over the course of a few years: "Everything will be different, once Russia is democratic. When will this happen? I'm doing everything in my power to make this happen as soon as possible. We shouldn't be talking about decades but about a few years."
