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The Ukraine war won't end until NATO withdraws troops from the Baltics, a top Russian official has warned. Sergei Ryabkov, Russia's deputy foreign minister responsible for U.S. relations, nonproliferation and arms control, made the remarks in an interview with state-run news agency Tass.

Throughout Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, repeated and escalating warnings of the potential for a wider war have only raised fears in the Baltic states that they could be next in the crosshairs of the Kremlin. Talk about a potential Russian invasion is "very common at parties, gatherings, lunch breaks, water cooler talk," Gabija Stasiukyne, a 32-year-old living in Vilnius, told the Kyiv Independent. "It’s everywhere. The conversation inevitably turns in the direction of — what are you going to do?" Lithuania's government is also taking the threat seriously — the country reinstated conscription in 2015, and Vilnius in January...

NATO members Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia said Tuesday they are abandoning the 1997 Ottawa convention treaty outlawing the use of anti-personnel landmines (APL) amid the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine. The Ottawa convention sought to outlaw APLs, which target humans in explosive blasts and have killed thousands of civilians. The treaty also notes that the minds can cause “unnecessary suffering or superfluous injury.” “Military threats to NATO Member States bordering Russia and Belarus have significantly increased,” the four countries wrote in a statement. “In light of this unstable security environment marked by Russia’s aggression and its ongoing threat...

The origin of the Obama administration’s investigation of imaginary Trump-Russia collusion remains murky, but this much is clear: John Brennan, Obama’s Trump-hating CIA director, stands at the center of it. Brennan pushed for a multi-agency investigation of the Trump campaign, using as his pretext alleged intelligence from an unnamed Baltic state. That “intelligence” was supplied at the very moment Baltic officials had their own political motivation to smear Trump. “Last April, the CIA director was shown intelligence that worried him. It was – allegedly – a tape recording of a conversation about money from the Kremlin going into the US...

Orbán and Estonian deputy prime minister meet in BudapestBUDAPEST, Hungary (ChurchMilitant.com) - Hungarian President Viktor Orbán's mission to protect Christian culture is moving up toward the Baltic. The Hungarian president met with Mart Helme, Estonian deputy prime minister, minister of the interior and chairman of the Conservative People's Party of Estonia (EKRE) to build new alliances between Hungary and the Baltic states. The talks occurred in the Carmelite monastery next to the presidential palace in the Castle District of Budapest on July 8. Toward the goal of protecting Christian values, the two leaders agree that national control of external borders...

The EU's top diplomat said Thursday that NATO offered the best security guarantee for Ukraine, accusing President Donald Trump of falling for a Russian narrative by closing the door.In an interview with AFP on a visit to Washington, Kaja Kallas also warned that the Europeans would not be able to assist in an eventual ceasefire deal in Ukraine's three-year conflict with Russia unless they are included by Trump, who has reached out directly to Russian President Vladimir Putin.Kallas, a former prime minister of frontline state Estonia, said NATO countries have never attacked Russia which instead was "afraid of democracy."

Russian TV host Vladimir Solovyov, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, recently called for Alaska's return to Russia during a recent Russian-state media program. -snip- During the recent program, Solovyov said Finland, Warsaw, the Baltics, Moldova, and Alaska should be "returned to the Russian Empire." "Do you think I'm joking when I mention Finland, Warsaw, the Baltics, Moldova? Everything returned to the Russian Empire. And Alaska too, while you're at it," Solovyov said in a translated video.

“We must reclaim many more historic lands, restore historical equity... Finland, the Baltic States, everything's ours. Let's take Alaska too”. These are phrases thrown around by propagandist polemicists, but which we should nevertheless pay attention to. Russia 1 is considered the official voice of the Kremlin and its master. For her part, a few weeks ago Maria Zakharova, the Russian Foreign Ministry's Director and Spokeswoman for Information and Press, didn't hesitate to comment on the provocative statements made by Russia 1's propagandists: “So you haven't played Risk? People at Russia 1 certainly have, and they're keeping up the good humor...

With a shortage of mortar shells in reserves across Europe, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia are setting up their own ammunition factories to be ready in case of a potential attack from Russia. In Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia — three Baltic states on the edge of the European Union that all share a border with Russia — defense is a key concern. All the more so, since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale attack on Ukraine in February 2022. According to NATO statistics, the defense spending of the three states greatly exceeded the minimum 2% of GDP in 2023, and...

A senior Ukrainian intelligence official warned about the threat Moscow poses on other nations in Europe, saying "the Russians will take the Baltics in seven days" if allies don't stand up to Russia now. The comment was made by Major-General Vadym Skibitsky, the deputy head of Ukraine's military intelligence directorate (GUR), during an interview with The Economist published on Thursday. The alarm has been sounded before about the potential of Russian President Vladimir Putin looking to start conflicts in the Baltic states. Earlier this year, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) wrote that the Russian leader appeared to...

Russia has blamed the "hostility" of Baltic states for them severing most of their ties with the country. "Because of the openly hostile line of Vilnius, Riga and Tallinn, all interstate, interdepartmental, regional and sectoral ties with Russia have been severed," said Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharov on Sunday. She warned Moscow would respond with asymmetric measures, though did not specify exactly what the Baltics had supposedly done. "We will also respond to the hostile actions of the Baltic states with asymmetrical measures, primarily in the economic and transit spheres," Zakharov detailed. Russia's 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine has...

MOSCOW, January 17. /TASS/. Present-day events in the Baltic countries, including the ongoing deportation of Russians from Latvia, affect Russia’s security, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting with heads of Russian municipalities. "The events that are taking place in Latvia and other Baltic countries now, when the Russian people are being thrown out, are very serious and directly affect the security of our country," he said. The Latvian authorities have sent repeated letters threatening to deport 985 Russians who failed to meet the requirement to obtain a residence permit in the country, the LTV TV channel reported with...

The common defence line agreement was signed to block Russian aggression in the region. The Baltic States have signed an agreement to create a common defence line to reinforce NATO's eastern border with both Russia and Belarus. Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia were once all part of the Soviet Union but are now part of the EU and NATO and are allies of Ukraine, where Russia launched a full-scale invasion in in February 2022. The countries' defence ministers signed the document in Latvia's capital Riga. The three believe constructing "anti-mobility defensive installations" will significantly strengthen their borders, as well as deter...

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin warned Congress on Tuesday during a private briefing that if they do not pass more aid to Ukraine, it would “very likely” lead to U.S. troops fighting a war in Europe.

What is the US aircraft carrier doing in Israel? It will start to carry out serious massacres there by striking, destroying Gaza"...The comments of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan... A plane carrying ammunition from the United States arrived in Israel tonight... Tonight rocket fire aimed at Israel from Syria... Meanwhile the Russian military in Syria says that there were only three US coalition air space violations in Syria's Al-Tanf today... The United States determining that the new military government in Niger since July is the result of a military coup. This means a permanent cutoff of 200 million dollars... Tensions...

In a move of staggering stupidity and hubris, Lithuanian banned the transit of Russian goods to Kaliningrad effective today, June 18, 2022. Kaliningrad, which is wedged between Poland on the west and Lithuania on the east, is home to almost a half-million Russians and the headquarters for the Russian Navy’s Baltic Sea force. Lithuania claims it is simply abiding by the sanctions imposed by the European Union. After all, Lithuania is a member of the European Union and NATO. But that is the point. This is a deliberate provocation. It is laying economic siege to a vital interest of Russia....

Japan’s prime minister says his country has entered into a pact with Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to boost economic and political ties with the three former Soviet republics. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Latvian Prime Minister Maris Kucinskis said after meeting on Saturday that information technology, transportation and medicine are areas where Japan sees the most potential in the Baltic countries. …

RUSSIAN state TV has aired a discussion on seizing the Baltic states as Nato bolster Eastern European allies with thousands more troops. ....Just such a scenario was outlined on Russian state TV channel Rossiya 1 by Colonel Igor Korotchenko, formerly of the Russian General Staff and air force and currently a reserve officer...

RIGA, Latvia (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday assured Lithuania and Latvia of NATO protection and American support as he made quick visits to two of the three Baltic states that are increasingly on edge as Russia presses ahead with its invasion of Ukraine. Along with Estonia, which Blinken will visit on Tuesday, the former Soviet republics are NATO members, and the Biden administration is aiming to calm any fears they have about their security in the event Russia chooses to expand its military operations. In the Latvian capital of Riga, Blinken said the Baltics have...

Moscow demanded Saturday that authorities in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania take measures to protect Russia's embassies after a Russian diplomat was attacked in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius, the Russian RIA news agency said.,/A>"We are warning Vilnius, Riga and Tallinn that they are responsible for the consequences of the anti-Russian psychosis they have unleashed," the Russian foreign ministry was quoted as saying. "A Russian diplomat in the Lithuanian capital was attacked with the use of physical force, attempts were made to put pressure on the ambassador," it added. Lithuania's national broadcaster reported last week a third secretary of the Russian embassy...