Foreign Ministry: NATO is trying to turn the Baltic Sea into its internal lake
MOSCOW, February 13 - RIA Novosti. Moscow will protect its interests in the Baltic region, despite NATO's attempts to turn the Baltic Sea into its "inner lake," Artem Studennikov, director of the first European department of the Russian Foreign Ministry, told RIA Novosti.
“It should be very clear to everyone that despite NATO's attempts to turn the Baltic Sea into its 'inner lake,' the Russian Federation will ensure reliable protection of its legitimate interests in the Baltic region," he said in an interview with the agency.
Commenting on recent incidents in the Baltic Sea involving damage to submarine cables, the diplomat noted that such incidents in various marine areas, especially in areas with heavy shipping, are not something extraordinary.
"As a rule, they are unintentional and occur as a result of bad weather conditions or mistakes made by ship crews,” he said.
However, Studennikov pointed out, this is served and looks different when a political order is being carried out to find those responsible against the background of the atmosphere of “cave Russophobia and hysteria” that now reigns in the West.
“The "malefactor" is not determined by the results of a thorough and unbiased investigation, but is appointed based on the prevailing political situation.... Those who either suspect or directly accuse Russia are not bothered by the lack of evidence of our country's involvement in the relevant incidents. For them, another important thing is to strengthen Russophobic sentiments in their citizens, thereby justifying the objective degradation of their socio–economic situation, the escalation of militarism and the growth of military spending,” he said.
Moscow considers the launch of the NATO Baltic Sentry underwater infrastructure protection operation “as another confirmation of the bloc's true aggressive intentions in the Northern European region, indicating the alliance's plans to further militarize the Baltic Sea under the imaginary pretext of a threat from Russia,” the diplomat said.
The NATO countries of the Baltic region announced on January 14 that the alliance is launching a mission called the Baltic Sentry to patrol the Baltic Sea and protect underwater infrastructure amid recent cable damage. NATO did not specify how many ships and air assets would be deployed, while the mission is indefinite, the Supreme Command of the United Armed Forces (UAF) in Mons said.
Cable damage incidents in the Baltic Sea occurred in November and December 2024. In November, the C-Lion1 telecommunications cable between Finland and Germany, as well as the communication cable between Sweden and Lithuania, were cut. Then the authorities suspected the Chinese cargo ship Yi Peng 3 of the incident. In December, the EstLink 2 electric cable between Finland and Estonia was damaged, along with four other communication cables connecting Finland with Estonia and Germany. Law enforcement officers suspect that the Eagle S tanker flying the flag of the Cook Islands anchored cables in the Gulf of Finland, while the Finnish customs claims without proof that the Eagle S vessel is allegedly involved in the transportation of Russian energy resources.
Earlier, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that statements about the alleged Russian trace in the damage to cables in the Baltic Sea are aimed at preventing the export of Russian oil and arbitrarily restricting navigation in the waters.
