Putin Threatened Europeans Over Military Exercises in the Baltic Sea
Russian dictator Vladimir Putin stated that Moscow may respond to the actions of European countries in the Baltic Sea. He claims that Russia has taken note of military exercises that included scenarios involving the seizure of civilian vessels.
This is according
to reports from Russian propaganda media.
Putin claimed that European leaders are allegedly speaking openly about preparing for war with Russia. At the same time, he assured that Russia has no aggressive intentions toward Europe.
“Let’s live in harmony; otherwise, we’ll have to respond—there’s no other way,” said the Russian dictator.
Separately, Putin stated that Russia is ready to cooperate and restore relations with European countries. At the same time, he accused European leaders of escalating the situation and claimed that they are allegedly using a “fictitious threat” from Russia to cover up their own economic mistakes.
The day before, international exercises took place in the Baltic Sea, during which Finnish security forces practiced boarding and searching a civilian vessel. Representatives of Finland’s coast guard, police, and armed forces participated in the exercise.
During his speech today, Putin also stated that the level of modernization of the Russian Strategic Missile Forces’ arsenal allegedly stands at 92%.
He called the strengthening of the nuclear triad Russia’s “unconditional priority.”
In addition, the Russian dictator stated that the new state armaments program will place special emphasis on the development of drones, and that Russian air defense, according to him, must ensure the destruction of any means of air and space attack.
As a reminder, Polish fighter jets intercepted a Russian Il-20 reconnaissance aircraft that was flying over the Baltic Sea and posed a threat to civilian aviation.
Russia, the aggressor state, declared that it would respond with a crushing blow to any hostile actions against it in the Baltic region. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova made this statement during a weekly briefing.
Russia has strengthened its military presence in the Baltic Sea with the arrival of the modern missile frigate *Admiral Kasatonov*. It is now the second large vessel from the Russian Northern Fleet to be deployed to the region in recent weeks.
