Russia has warned Nato against trying to isolate Kaliningrad, saying any such move could trigger a direct military confrontation. Moscow said it has enough weapons to defend the Russian exclave and would be prepared to use its entire arsenal if Nato attempted to cut the region off from the rest of Russia.The warning came from the Russian embassy in Belgium, which handles Moscow’s diplomatic contacts with Nato. The embassy said it had raised its concerns with the Nato International Secretariat and the Belgian Foreign Ministry.“Amid the aggressive policy pursued by Nato leadership and member countries, the embassy has conveyed our principled approaches to the Nato International Secretariat and the Belgian foreign minisry,” TASS reported citing a statement by the Russian Embassy to Belgium, which is in charge of diplomatic contacts with the North Atlantic alliance.“We warned that this reckless and irresponsible approach sharply increases the risks of a direct military confrontation with our country,” it further said.
Why Kaliningrad is at the centre of tensions
Kaliningrad is a Russian territory on the Baltic Sea that is separated from mainland Russia by other countries. It lies between Nato members Poland and Lithuania, making its location strategically sensitive for both Moscow and the alliance.The latest Russian warning comes about a month after Nato conducted an air exercise over northeastern Poland, close to Kaliningrad. The planned drill involved US and Norwegian fighter jets, a Nato E-3A Sentry AWACS surveillance aircraft, aerial-refuelling tankers and a US EA-37B electronic-warfare aircraft.Estimates put the number of aircraft involved at between about 25 and 50. Poland’s Operational Command said the exercise was coordinated by Nato and was not linked to any Russian air force activity. The stated aim was to improve interoperability between allied forces and practise joint air-operation scenarios.
Moscow warns against isolating the exclave
Russia has now linked its broader concerns about Nato activity around Kaliningrad to the possibility of the region being isolated from mainland Russia. Moscow says any attempt to do so would amount to aggression against Russian territory.“We emphasized that Russia possesses the necessary means to repel potential aggression and stands ready to deploy its entire available arsenal of weapons if Nato countries try to isolate the Kaliningrad Region from the rest of our country,” Russian diplomats said.The embassy also urged Nato members to avoid further actions or rhetoric that could worsen the situation.“We called upon the bloc’s member states to refrain from further escalatory rhetoric and actions in order to prevent a large-scale confrontation,” the embassy added.ALSO READ | Russia planning ‘grey zone operations’? Why is Europe intuitively spooked