The country ofLithuania gained independence from the Soviet Union at the age of 14.
She told Insider that her experience with the Soviets left her nation wary of Russia's intentions.
She was not surprised when Putin invaded Ukraine.
She said that for a long time many countries believed that they could drag people into democracy through business and communication.
We were not sure about it.
imonyt was one of the leaders who warned the world that Russia was still a serious threat.
In interviews with Insider, she and other senior figures in the governments of the two Baltic countries described how their warnings were finally acknowledged as correct.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen admitted last month that Germany had been naive.
Ursula von der Leyen said that the war taught them to listen to those who know Putin.
For a long time, they have told us that Putin would not stop.
Three of the EU's 27 members, as well as the Baltic countries of Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia, were identified by her.
The countries warned that Russia could target them and that they would prepare their own citizens for war.
Even as the US government struggled to convince other nations to take Putin's military build-up seriously, they were ahead of the curve in warning of the possibility of full-scale war in Ukraine.
The US, UK, and other European nations spend more on the conflict in Ukraine than the countries that spend less on it.
Artis Pabriks said he wished he had been wrong about Russia.
He warned that Russia was an "existential threat" to Latvia, and watched in horror as tanks, artillery, and attack choppers poured into Ukraine.
He told Insider that they would be happier if they were wrong about Russia. It's ironic but it's true.
Russian forces have been attacking Ukraine for a long time and have waged a limited war in the Donbas region.
John E. Herbst was the US ambassador to Ukraine from 2003 to 2006 and he told Insider that many in Europe didn't think Putin would start a war until it was too late.
He said that there was a lot of false understanding about what Putin's policies were.
There was an inclination on the part of many, not all, to see Putin's eight years in power as not much of a war, which would not require a serious response.
Many people changed their minds after the invasion.
The approach between eastern European nations and western European nations was different.
Some countries will speak about values, but make business with Russia, according to Pabriks.
Despite warnings from the US and eastern Europe, Germany embraced Russian business, buying huge quantities of gas from Russia.
Russia's expulsion from the G7 and the wave of sanctions that followed the annexation of the peninsula did little to derail the country's activities.
The super-rich moved from Moscow to European capitals such as London, Paris, and Rome, buying up companies and real estate.
Many of the people who went through the hell of Soviet occupation are still alive, according to imonyt.
She said it leftLithuania with a very sensitive ear to what was happening in Russia as it prepared to invade, all the while denying that it had any intentions of starting a war.
Some of our friends in other countries thought it couldn't be like this, this isn't rational, you're paranoid, and so on. I don't think it was right.
"For us, this is not the case because first we had to live through 50 years of occupation of the soviet regime, and then slightly more than 30 years of our restored independence," she said.
The memory is still going strong.
She said that they were providing military support for Ukraine before the invasion began. Other countries didn't think so.
It was exhausting trying to convince the West that Russia was a real threat, according to Pabriks.
We've never doubted what we can expect from Russia.
He said that the problem was that it took so much energy in daily political process and in life to convince our allies if a problem doesn't affect them directly.
He said it was seen in the warnings against theNord Stream projects and in the economic ties with the Russian government. Western countries say it's likely that Russian sabotage is behind the leaking of those pipes.
The foreign minister of Estonia told Insider that the world did not do enough to deter the monster from attacking.
He said that there was ambivalence about the fighting in eastern Ukraine from the western camp, with many pushing to consider it an internal conflict rather than an act of Russian aggression.
Estonia's defense minister told Insider that his country had been bolstering its military for years since Russia invaded Georgia in 2008.
He said that they knew what Russia was doing.
He and imonyt pointed to the fact that Russian aggression is never far away.
As the war in Ukraine continued, such activity increased, especially in response to symbolic gestures like removing a major Soviet-era monument.
As the UK, EU, and US tore into the Russian economy with sanctions, it made life difficult for the country's elite.
The leaders Insider spoke to were not interested in blaming their allies for moving slowly, instead urging them to keep going and match the level of support they were getting from their own neighbors.
Pabriks said that if every European country gave proportionally so much assistance to Ukraine, the war would be over.
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