Russia blames ‘hostile’ Baltic countries for split in relations

Russia blames ‘hostile’ Baltic countries for split in relations


Moscow vowed to answer what it known as confrontational actions by Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia with uneven measures.

ADVERTISEMENT

Russia has blamed the “hostility” of Baltic states for them severing most of their ties with the nation.  

“Due to the overtly hostile line of Vilnius, Riga and Tallinn, all interstate, interdepartmental, regional and sectoral ties with Russia have been severed,” stated Russian international ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharov on Sunday.

She warned Moscow would reply with uneven measures, although didn’t specify precisely what the Baltics had supposedly performed. 

“We may even reply to the hostile actions of the Baltic states with asymmetrical measures, primarily in the financial and transit spheres,” Zakharov detailed. 

Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine has despatched tensions in the Baltics and the encircling area skyrocketing. 

The three small states on the EU’s jap frontier have been occupied by the USSR till it collapsed in 1991. They now worry a revisionist Kremlin might threaten their very own safety and independence. 

Ex-Russian prime minister Dmitry Medvedev claimed final 12 months the Baltic countries belong to Russia, saying that they had “dirty themselves” over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

Tallinn and Vilnius final week accused Russia of interfering with air site visitors navigation in the area. 

NATO on Thursday sounded the alarm over Moscow’s “hybrid” warfare in the area and wider Europe. 

It pointed to an “intensifying marketing campaign” of “disinformation, sabotage, acts of violence, cyber and digital interference… and different hybrid operations” in opposition to members of the 32-state navy alliance. 

Estonia’s international minister Margus Tsahkna solely informed Euronews in September that he was “involved” about doable hybrid assaults from Russia. 

Russia in February put Estonian prime minister Kaja Kallas, Lithuania’s tradition minister and members of the earlier Latvian parliament on a wished record for taking down Soviet-era monuments in their countries. 

Helps of the strikes say they’re a painful reminder of Soviet occupation and needs to be taken away to indicate solidarity with Kyiv amid Russia’s conflict in Ukraine.

Critics say they hand Moscow a propaganda victory.