"Judging by past performance and knowing that he is open to using starvation as a weapon, it seems likely that Putin will again try to blackmail the world by blockading Ukraine's grain this winter," Landsbergis tweeted on Sunday.
"We can permanently limit Putin's ability to threaten the world's food supplies. We can empower Ukraine to defend its seas and restore its economy. Let's do this sooner rather than later," the foreign minister said.
In his words, the EU's ATALANTA mission is already protecting shipping from piracy in the Western Indian Ocean, and this model could be used in the Black Sea too.
"Putin's use of grain as a tool for blackmail must be stopped. We must get serious about stopping it. We can build defenses against it," Landsbergis wrote. "We simply cannot trust the occupier that is stealing Ukraine's grain, to be honest in negotiations over exporting Ukraine's grain."
In his words, longer-range coastal defenses in the Black Sea along with military escorts for shipping would boost Ukraine's economy, secure grain exports and avert a global food crisis.
"Sooner or later we will inevitably have to strengthen security in the Black Sea, especially if Putin refuses to renew the "Grain for Peace" deal in November, which he is already threatening to do.
Ukraine also needs leverage to expand the categories of products that can be exported, thereby regaining its economic sovereignty and increasing its ability to fight and rebuild. We can supply this leverage," Lithuania's top diplomat said.
Moscow's military invasion launched in late February paralyzed Ukraine's wheat exports as its ports were blocked and mined. An agreement brokered by Ankara in the second half of July helped to end the Russian blockade and allowed the shipment of grain from the port of Odessa to start. This helped to alleviate the global food crisis, with food becoming very expensive in some of the poorest countries.
Under the Ukraine-Russia agreement with the United Nations and Turkey, a joint coordination center was formally opened to control Ukrainian grain exports through the Black Sea and to ensure that ships do not carry illegal cargo, such as arms.
Western leaders accuse the Kremlin of cynically using food as a weapon and of waging an imperial-style predatory war.