Russia preempts NATO extension by withdrawing from the Baltic Council

Yesterday, Moscow announced its withdrawal from the “Baltic Council”, in a proactive step before the expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to include Finland and Sweden.

The Russian Foreign Ministry stated that the decision would not affect Russia’s presence in the region, and stressed that “attempts to expel us from the Baltic Sea are doomed to failure.” Russian experts have warned that one of the main risks of Finland and Sweden joining the Western alliance is that Russia will face a new geopolitical situation, in which all the countries bordering the Baltic Sea are “enemy of Russia.” Experts believed that this Russian withdrawal practically precedes a Western decision that may be taken to expel Russia. From the Council of Baltic Countries.

The move coincided with an escalation in the Russian rhetoric, as Russian President Vladimir Putin warned of the repercussions of the European countries’ energy policy, describing it as “economic suicide,” while Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov launched a violent attack against Germany, and said that after the arrival of Olaf’s government Schulz’s authority “lost the last remaining signs of independence.” He described European policies as short-sighted and rude.

In addition, a senior US Defense Department official said that Ukrainian forces have begun to retake some towns captured by the Russians in the past. He added that the Ukrainian forces are pushing the Russian forces to the east and north of the city of Kharkiv, stressing that the howitzers provided by the United States with other allied countries, have a significant impact on the battlefield in Ukraine, specifically in Kharkiv (northeast) and Donbass (east).