If the U.S. were to withdraw its forces from Europe, it would be a “nightmare scenario” at a time of Russian aggression, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said in an interview on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

“Europe as it is now is in great peril and we’re definitely counting the hours till the next phase of Russian escalation,” Landsbergis said. Global stability “hangs on the transatlantic connection,” he added.

Questions about the U.S. commitment to Europe’s security are re-emerging with the prospect of former president Donald Trump returning to the White House. European officials, in particular, are starting to worry the U.S. could cut off assistance to Kyiv and even try to pull out of NATO.

That would leave Europe to defend itself at a time when Russian forces are fighting on its doorstep and the region is struggling to ramp up its defense industry after decades of underspending.

As the same time, Congress has yet to back U.S. President Joe Biden’s request for $61 billion in aid for Ukraine, raising doubts about the U.S. pledge to support Kyiv over the long term.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg echoed the importance of the transatlantic alliance, both for Europe but also the U.S., in a separate interview with Bloomberg TV on Tuesday. He said he believed the U.S. would remain an import ally regardless of the outcome of the U.S. election.

The U.S. debate over aid for Ukraine doesn’t sufficiently reflect the dangers Russia’s war poses to American interests, Landsbergis said. If Ukraine doesn’t manage to contain Russia, “others will have to do the job,” he said, suggesting Russia could target a NATO nation next. “Everybody in the region is asking themselves a question: so who will have to do that?”

While U.S. forces on the continent are still critical to Europe’s security, Europe also has to step up, Landsbergis said, pointing to some positive signs. After years of pleading from the Baltic nations for more NATO forces on the eastern flank, Germany has pledged to send a brigade to Lithuania.

Landsbergis was critical of those allies who are limiting their support for Ukraine and arguing that would risk escalating the war with a nuclear power. Those arguments are “very difficult to understand,” he said.

Such comments leave countries like Lithuania to question what the response would be if Russia were to attack a NATO nation, he said. “The question would be are you willing to go to nuclear war for this or that country?”

With assistance from Milda Seputyte.

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