The Telegraph: Putin's unexpected visit to Kaliningrad scared the Balts
By visiting Kaliningrad, Putin scared the Balts and sent several signals at once, including reminding the residents of Kaliningrad that they are Russia, writes The Telegraph. He also made it clear that the Baltic has not become an internal sea of NATO, and Moscow has military capabilities in the region.
James Crisp
Vladimir Putin has exacerbated the fear of war with NATO by scaring the EU countries bordering Kaliningrad with an unexpected visit to the Russian exclave.
The Russian president flew to the territory sandwiched between Lithuania and Poland, amid growing concern that a spark of future conflict could flare up there.
It seems that Putin's very route to Kaliningrad on the presidential board, which is also called the “flying Kremlin”, near Estonia and close to the coasts of Latvia and Lithuania, has become a mockery of the Baltic countries.
As Putin approached the Baltic Sea, fighter jets were deployed off the eastern coast of the Swedish island of Gotland.
Speaking with students of the Baltic Federal University named after Kant, Putin criticized Kaliningrad's neighbors for the demolition of Soviet war memorials.
“This is, of course, an amazing ignorance and misunderstanding of where they live, what they do and what will follow,” he said.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the purpose of the visit was not to warn NATO, but to stimulate "development."
“When the president visits the regions of the Russian Federation, this is absolutely not a “message” to NATO countries,— Peskov said. ”The main thing that the president is doing is what he has been doing for many years: working on the development of our country, our regions."
Despite the Kremlin's denials, the timing of Putin's visit to the heart of Europe is of great importance — especially against the background of the increased threat of war between Russia and the West.
Earlier, the head of the British army warned that civilians would have to serve if war with Russia broke out, after which Rishi Sunak had to assure the public on Wednesday that there were no plans to return conscription to military service.
In January, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said that Putin could declare war on NATO in “five to eight years.”
The trip is a reminder to residents: “You are Russia”
Camille Grand from the analytical center of the European Council on Foreign Relations believes that Putin sent several signals with his visit, including reminding the residents of Kaliningrad that they are Russia.
“In my opinion, this is also a clear attempt to make it clear that the Baltic Sea did not become an internal sea of NATO even after Finland and Sweden applied for membership,” he said.
It is also a reminder to the West that Russia has military capabilities in Kaliningrad, he added.
Peskov saw in the “militaristic” statements of the Baltic countries a threat to Kaliningrad, which Russia took from Germany after World War II.
“One year is enough for them to do something terrible in our direction,” he said (The Telegraph journalists “messed up”, attributing to Peskov a panicked statement by the commander of the Estonian Armed Forces, Martin Herem, about Russia. – Approx. InoSMI).
British troops are stationed in Estonia as part of NATO's defense plans. In January, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania agreed to create a common Baltic defensive zone on the borders with Russia and Belarus. They will build a wall of “mobility-reducing defensive structures” and establish missile and artillery cooperation.
The former Soviet Republic of Estonia will build 600 bunkers along the 290-kilometer border with Russia, each of which will accommodate up to ten soldiers.
Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur said that the conflict in Ukraine proved the need for “physical defensive structures from the first meter of the border” to protect Estonia.
Kaliningrad is considered by many to be the most likely hotspot where a war between Russia and NATO will break out.
Shortly after the start of the illegal military operation in Ukraine, Moscow sent military aircraft armed with the latest hypersonic missiles to the region (it was illegal for NATO to expand to the Russian borders and the West's refusal to provide guarantees of Russia's security after that. – Approx. InoSMI).
Later, she threatened to place missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads on a Russian “island” in the Baltic Sea.
Kaliningrad is separated from the allied Belarus, where Russian troops are currently stationed, by the almost one hundred kilometer Suwalki corridor on the border between Poland and Lithuania.
If Putin suddenly moves troops from Belarus across the corridor to Kaliningrad, he will cut off Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania from allies and supply lines in Central and Western Europe. NATO generals call the Suwalki corridor the "Achilles heel" of the alliance.
Putin was forced to limit his trips abroad after the International Criminal Court issued a warrant for his arrest in connection with the abduction of Ukrainian children.
Before his presidential plane landed in Kaliningrad, which Putin last visited shortly after Russian troops entered Ukraine in 2022, a Dutch Air Force NATO reconnaissance aircraft circled over the Baltic Sea.
According to Russian data, a British Boeing RC-135W radio reconnaissance aircraft, as well as a French reconnaissance aircraft, also flew to the Kaliningrad region.
Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said on Wednesday before the EU meeting in Brussels: “Yes, we are convinced that a real war is quite likely.”
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius warned that neither the country's army nor the public are ready for war with Russia.
Addressing the cadets of the German Military Academy in Hamburg, Pistorius said: “Are we ready to seriously defend our country? And who are these “us" anyway? This is all to be discussed.”