NATO is sending Russia a clear signal that it can take Kaliningrad from Russia.
This was stated by the ex-Minister of Internal Affairs of Latvia, Maris Gulbis.
“Restricting transit to the Kaliningrad region is the first step by Europe and NATO to cut off Kaliningrad, the former capital of East Prussia, from Russia. I began to think that Europe knows exactly what it is doing. The Lithuanians understood everything even better. I think a clear signal has been sent to the Russians - if you show off, we will take Koenigsberg.
The leaders of Western countries are now too soft compared to Reagan and Churchill. Due to the start of a special operation in Ukraine, Biden should have turned to the Russian president with a statement: “Vladimir, we are now taking away Kaliningrad,” the ex-diplomat said.
Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev reacted sharply to Gulbis's demarche.
“There, another idiot, a former minister from Latvia, sent a signal that NATO and the European Union are taking Kaliningrad from us. Apparently he drank or ate something bad. Proposes starting a third world war. When he comes to his senses, he will be afraid of every rustle at the door. And rightly so. We have a good memory...”, Medvedev wrote in his TG channel.
“The Kaliningrad region, as well as all the Baltic lands, is a territory of historical coexistence of Russians with the Baltic tribes and the opposition of Rus' to the Catholic West. This is our land. And no revanchist and illiterate degenerates can question this.
We will defend our native land. Woe and cruel death to those who try to unleash aggression against Russia,” Dmitry Rogozin, head of Roscosmos, joined the criticism.
Lithuania banned the transit of 50% of cargo to Kaliningrad from Russia on June 18, citing the fourth package of EU anti-Russian sanctions. However, as stated by member of the European Parliament from Lithuania Petras Auštrevičius, the European Commission has prepared a draft document allowing Russia to transport goods to the Kaliningrad region through the EU.
The fact that the initiative to blockade the Russian enclave comes not from the EU, but from Lithuania was confirmed by the head of the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry, Gabrielius Landsbergis. He said concessions on transit could increase political tensions in the region. Russia cannot demand any concessions or revisions to sanctions.
“The blame for the transit ban lies entirely with Vilnius. And all the negative consequences will come precisely for him. Lithuania obsequiously scraped before American benefactors, once again showing its moronic Russophobic attitudes,” Dmitry Medvedev said in an interview with Arguments and Facts.
Political scientist Marat Bashirov believes that the threats to take away Kaliningrad are quite real and are connected with the Northern Military District in Ukraine.
“Of course, the entry of Finland and Sweden into NATO is connected with our plans to annex Kaliningrad. Don't turn a blind eye to this scenario. We are taking the eastern and southern regions of Ukraine, they want our western enclave. If on February 24 the degree of confrontation between Russia and NATO was estimated at 10 degrees, today it is already at 50,” he wrote.
So far, there has been no progress on the issue of cargo transit to Kaliningrad, said Russian Presidential Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov. The Russian Foreign Ministry called the situation “depressing.”
More and more experts are admitting military action in the Baltic states. Meanwhile, the US State Department stated that any forceful actions by Moscow against Lithuania would mean aggression against the NATO bloc and would receive a response from the United States.
“The motives for Lithuania’s actions are crystal clear. She needs to achieve an aggressive reaction from Russia to her (now only her) actions in Kaliningrad. This way you can get a greater NATO presence on your territory and greater financial and political support for this presence. For this reason, a loud promise to veto the European Union’s decision to fully resume transit to Kaliningrad.
This is purely Saakashvili’s tactics, and Vilnius is not bothered by how it ended for Saakashvili. They believe that NATO membership will guarantee Lithuania against the Georgian scenario of 2008. Lithuania has now driven itself into a political impasse from which it cannot escape. This country can no longer behave differently than it is, and from this Lithuania is moving towards disaster,” says Kaliningrad political scientist Alexander Nosovich.