The formerly Soviet-ruled NATO and EU member has been a key ally to Ukraine since Russia's invasion and fears that it could be the Kremlin's next target.

"I think we should reach at least 3.5 percent of GDP in the coming years," said President Gitanas Nauseda, who won a second term on Sunday.

"This is a figure on which we can base our urgent needs," he told reporters.

Lithuania currently spends 2.75 percent of GDP on defence and last week the finance ministry proposed raising the figure to three percent next year.

But Nauseda said that was not enough to meet Lithuania's defence needs, citing the modernisation of the army, potential universal conscription and the reception of the German brigade assigned to Lithuania as additional expenses.

"All of this requires very tangible financial resources, and we have to allocate them because... we cannot shatter this vessel, we cannot allow it to break," he added.

More than half of the population of Lithuania believes it faces a "possible" or "likely" attack from Russia, according to an ELTA/Baltijos Tyrimai poll conducted earlier this year.

Nauseda said Monday he believed universal male conscription would be achievable within his next five-year term.

The existing partial conscription scheme was introduced in 2015 in response to Russia's annexation of the Crimea peninsula from Ukraine.

Each year, up to 4,000 Lithuanians from the ages of 18 to 26 are enlisted in the army.

Nauseda, who will be sworn in this July, scored a resounding victory over his rival, current Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte, in Sunday's presidential runoff.

"Lithuania's independence and freedom are like a fragile vessel that we must cherish, protect" while working together with the EU and NATO, Nauseda told reporters after his win.