Russia 'brainwashing' Europeans says Lithuania's FM

Lithuania's Foreign Minister, Linas Linkevicius has claimed Russia is "brainwashing" European populations, including in the UK, France and Italy.

Speaking to BBC Hardtalk's Stephen Sackur, he said: "In conventional warfare there was artillery attack before the real battle... Now there is no need to use artillery. You can brainwash."

Asked what evidence he had, Mr Linkevicius said that people were becoming complacent and worried about being too critical because of fears of being provocative.

Russia prepared for the 2014 annexation of Crimea "using state-controlled media and spreading lies," he said.

Lithuania regained its independence during the collapse of the Soviet Union and is now a member of both Nato and the European Union.

It has a land border with the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad on the Baltic Sea.

Watch the full interview on Friday 25 November 2016 on BBC World News, on the BBC News Channel and BBC iPlayer (UK only).