The President of Lithuania has joined a long line of politicians to compare Vladimir Putin’s tactics to those used by Hitler.

Dalia Grybauskaite told Focus, a German news magazine, that the Russian government was trying to use cheaper oil and gas as leverage to persuade Baltic states to leave Nato.

She said: “[Putin] uses nationality as a pretext to conquer territory with military means. That's exactly what Stalin and Hitler did. Such comparisons are spot on."

Download the new Independent Premium app Sharing the full story, not just the headlines

Ms Grybauskaite said Russian foreign policy was "characterised by aggressiveness, violence, and a willingness to overstep boundaries", adding that Baltic states and Poland "constantly" experienced it, with military exercises taking place almost every week in Kaliningrad, Russia's western enclave between Poland and Lithuania.

She claimed Russia was trying to maintain its influence in parts of the former Soviet Union and wanted to keep the Baltic states of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia dependent on its energy.

Although Ms Grybauskaite believes a Russian invasion of the countries was unlikely given their Nato membership, she said they needed to be better defended.

The Baltic governments are increasing military spending, she said, and called on Nato to increase its presence in the region.

Ms Grybauskaite claimed the Russian President was looking back to a colonial golden age for his country

She added: "Putin has a missionary vision to defend the eastern hemisphere. He has in mind a Russia like that of the time of Catherine the Great. His character has developed strangely."

Hillary Clinton previously compared the annexation of Crimea to Hitler’s territorial moves in the years before the Second World War in March but later denied likening the Russian President to the Nazi leader.

Daily coronavirus briefing No hype, just the advice and analysis you need Enter your email address Continue Continue Please enter an email address Email address is invalid Fill out this field Email address is invalid Email already exists. Log in to update your newsletter preferences Register with your social account or click here to log in I would like to receive morning headlines Monday - Friday plus breaking news alerts by email Update newsletter preferences

Shape Created with Sketch. In pictures: People who have compared Putin to Hitler Show all 10 left Created with Sketch. right Created with Sketch. Shape Created with Sketch. In pictures: People who have compared Putin to Hitler 1/10 Stephen Fry The actor and comedian wrote an open letter to David Cameron and the IOC before the Winter Olympics, saying Putin was repeating Hitler's crime of persecuting a minority in his own country."He is making scapegoats of gay people, just as Hitler did Jews. He cannot be allowed to get away with it," he wrote. Susannah Ireland / The Independent 2/10 Prince Charles The Prince of Wales allegedly said “and now Putin is doing just about the same as Hitler” during a conversation with museum volunteer Marienne Ferguson, prompting outcry from the Russian Government and the President himself, who called it "unacceptable". 3/10 Hillary Clinton Amid reports of Russia issuing passports to Ukrainian citizens, the former US Secretary of State compared it to "what Hitler did back in the 30s". Rex 4/10 Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper On Crimea: "What we've seen is the decision of a major power to effectively invade and occupy a neighbouring country based on some kind of extra-territorial claim of jurisdiction over ethnic minorities. We haven't seen this kind of behaviour since the Second World War." Reuters 5/10 Mikheil Saakashvili, former President of Georgia Writing in The Washington Post, Mr Saakashvili said: "In the 1930s, Nazi Germany occupied part of neighbouring Czechoslovakia under the pretext of protecting ethnic Germans. Today, Russia is claiming to protect ethnic Russians… in Crimea or Georgian territories." AP 6/10 US Senator Lindsey Graham On the Winter Olympics in Sochi: "If you could go back in time, would you have allowed Adolf Hitler to host the Olympics in Germany? To have the propaganda coup of inviting the world into Nazi Germany and putting on a false front?" Getty Images 7/10 Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird John Baird compared the annexation of Crimea to the Third Reich's 1938 takeover of Sudetenland in the Czech Repuplic. He said: "The Sudetenland had a majority of Germans. That gave Germany no right to do this in the late 1930s." Getty Images 8/10 Former World Chess Champion Garry Kasparov AFP 9/10 US Senator John McCain "If Putin is allowed to go into a sovereign nation on behalf of Russian-speaking people, this is the same thing that Hitler did prior to World War II. He went into the Sudetenland on behalf of German-speaking people. Went into Czechoslovakia on behalf of German-speaking people," he said. AFP 10/10 Dalia Grybauskaite, President of Lithuania “[Putin] uses nationality as a pretext to conquer territory with military means. That's exactly what Stalin and Hitler did. Such comparisons are spot on," she said. Getty 1/10 Stephen Fry The actor and comedian wrote an open letter to David Cameron and the IOC before the Winter Olympics, saying Putin was repeating Hitler's crime of persecuting a minority in his own country."He is making scapegoats of gay people, just as Hitler did Jews. He cannot be allowed to get away with it," he wrote. Susannah Ireland / The Independent 2/10 Prince Charles The Prince of Wales allegedly said “and now Putin is doing just about the same as Hitler” during a conversation with museum volunteer Marienne Ferguson, prompting outcry from the Russian Government and the President himself, who called it "unacceptable". 3/10 Hillary Clinton Amid reports of Russia issuing passports to Ukrainian citizens, the former US Secretary of State compared it to "what Hitler did back in the 30s". Rex 4/10 Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper On Crimea: "What we've seen is the decision of a major power to effectively invade and occupy a neighbouring country based on some kind of extra-territorial claim of jurisdiction over ethnic minorities. We haven't seen this kind of behaviour since the Second World War." Reuters 5/10 Mikheil Saakashvili, former President of Georgia Writing in The Washington Post, Mr Saakashvili said: "In the 1930s, Nazi Germany occupied part of neighbouring Czechoslovakia under the pretext of protecting ethnic Germans. Today, Russia is claiming to protect ethnic Russians… in Crimea or Georgian territories." AP 6/10 US Senator Lindsey Graham On the Winter Olympics in Sochi: "If you could go back in time, would you have allowed Adolf Hitler to host the Olympics in Germany? To have the propaganda coup of inviting the world into Nazi Germany and putting on a false front?" Getty Images 7/10 Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird John Baird compared the annexation of Crimea to the Third Reich's 1938 takeover of Sudetenland in the Czech Repuplic. He said: "The Sudetenland had a majority of Germans. That gave Germany no right to do this in the late 1930s." Getty Images 8/10 Former World Chess Champion Garry Kasparov AFP 9/10 US Senator John McCain "If Putin is allowed to go into a sovereign nation on behalf of Russian-speaking people, this is the same thing that Hitler did prior to World War II. He went into the Sudetenland on behalf of German-speaking people. Went into Czechoslovakia on behalf of German-speaking people," he said. AFP 10/10 Dalia Grybauskaite, President of Lithuania “[Putin] uses nationality as a pretext to conquer territory with military means. That's exactly what Stalin and Hitler did. Such comparisons are spot on," she said. Getty

Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia have already called for tougher EU sanctions against Moscow after its annexation of Crimea.

The Baltic leaders said on Saturday they would back further sanctions against Russia at a European Union summit unless violence in eastern Ukraine de-escalated.

Additional reporting by Reuters