Leaders in the Baltic Sea reacted cautiously Wednesday to rumors that Russia may modify the borders of its territorial seas in the region, with Lithuania’s foreign minister calling it an “obvious escalation” that requires an “appropriately firm response.”
The Russian media released a draft proposal indicating that Russia’s Defense Ministry is considering changing the coordinates used to determine the strip of territorial seas off its mainland coast and its Baltic Sea islands. The ministry claims that the current coordinates, certified in 1985, are “based on small-scale nautical navigation maps” that do not align with the “modern geographical situation.”
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The draft made it unclear whether the proposed revisions would shift or clarify the border.
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson stated that Russia has ratified a United Nations treaty governing such changes. “Both we and Finland assume that Russia—which is a signatory party to that convention—lives up to that responsibility,” he said, according to Swedish news agency TT.
“If Russians dispute borders, then Russia violates a U.N. convention, and then Russia has the whole world against it,” Finland’s Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen told Finnish radio YLE.
She added, however, that it was most likely a regular gesture by Russia rather than a provocation.
On X, Finnish President Alexander Stubb stated that Russia has not contacted Finland about the situation. “Finland acts as always: calmly and based on facts,” he stated.
On X, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis claimed that Russia is “attempting to spread fear, uncertainty, and doubt about their intentions in the Baltic Sea.” Lithuania has expressed deep worry over the Russian military’s recent advances in northeastern Ukraine.
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, who was visiting Lithuania on Wednesday, echoed Landberg’s remarks, saying that “whatever this was or actually is, it appears to be another example of the thoroughly perfidious kind of hybrid warfare that Putin is practicing,” according to German news agency dpa.
According to the Baltic News Service, Lithuania summoned the Russian representative to provide a full explanation.
However, Russia’s Interfax news agency later Wednesday quoted an anonymous military diplomatic source as saying Moscow has no plans to change the border or the size of its territorial seas.
Dmitry Peskov, Kremlin spokesperson, told reporters that the Defense Ministry’s plan contained “nothing political.”.
“You see how tensions and levels of confrontation are rising, particularly in the Baltic region. “This requires appropriate steps from our relevant bodies to ensure our security,” Peskov stated.
An official government website posted the idea for a draft law, but removed it on Wednesday. It was not immediately evident why.
Finland and Sweden joined NATO after Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in early 2022. Military alliance members now virtually surround the Baltic Sea, Russia’s naval access route to St. Petersburg and its Kaliningrad region.
Kaliningrad is located between Lithuania to the north and east and Poland to the south. It is the home of the Russian Navy’s Baltic Fleet.
