The Kaliningrad region of Russia will be "neutralized" if Moscow provokes a conflict with NATO, said Linas LinkeviÄius, the Lithuanian ambassador to Sweden.
"After Sweden was integrated into the Alliance, the Baltic Sea became an internal NATO sea. If Russia dares to challenge NATO, Kaliningrad would be "neutralized" first" wrote LinkeviÄius on social media.
The ambassador also noted that Russia's previous false claims of being surrounded by NATO are "now becoming a reality."
The day before, the Hungarian parliament, which remained the last obstacle to Sweden's entry into the alliance after Turkey, approved Stockholm's accession to NATO. Sweden applied for membership in the alliance together with Finland in the spring of 2022. This happened after the start of a full-scale war in Ukraine.
Initially, it was planned that Sweden's and Finland's accession to NATO would be simultaneous, but due to difficulties Sweden faced with Turkey and Hungary, Finland joined the bloc independently.
Against this background, Russia began preparing for war in the Baltic Sea. Crews of Russian ships carrying anti-ship missiles "Kalibr" and "Moskit" practiced destroying targets of a hypothetical enemy during exercises, as reported by the Baltic Fleet. The crews also conducted artillery firing at sea targets simulating unmanned enemy boats.
Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that Moscow has "no reasons, no interest - neither geopolitical, nor economic, nor political, nor military" to fight against NATO countries. "There is no desire to spoil relations with them. <...> We are interested in developing relations. <...> With whom do we have any problems? We have none. They artificially create problems with us because they do not want to have such a competitor as Russia," Putin noted.
At the same time, Russia's war with NATO will become inevitable if Western countries decide to send their troops to Ukraine, said Dmitry Peskov, the press secretary of the Russian president. According to him, countries that decide to help Kyiv by sending troops should also consider whether it corresponds to their interests and the interests of their citizens.
