Russia says European powers ought to counterbalance ‘aggressive’ Poland, Baltics

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia mentioned on Tuesday that calls by the president of Lithuania to produce Ukraine with fighter planes highlighted the “extraordinarily aggressive place” of the Baltic states and Poland, and that “main European international locations” ought to counterbalance their stance.

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda mentioned on Monday that NATO ought to cease drawing “crimson traces” and may provide Ukraine with no matter weapons it wanted, together with fighter jets and long-range missiles.

Requested about these feedback, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov informed reporters: “Typically, we see a particularly aggressive place from representatives of the Baltic international locations and Poland. They’re apparently able to do something to impress the expansion of additional confrontation, with little regard for the implications.”

He added: “In fact, it is extremely unhappy that below these situations the leaders of main European international locations, who drive all European processes, sadly don’t play a balancing position.”

Nauseda’s name adopted selections final week by Germany and the USA to produce battle tanks to Ukraine, a transfer Russia described as an escalation of the battle.

The Baltic states of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia – all dominated by Moscow till they broke away from the Soviet Union in 1991 – have strongly backed Ukraine, supporting its argument that it wants extra superior Western weapons as quickly as attainable with a purpose to head off a feared new Russian offensive.

Moscow despatched tens of 1000’s of troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24 final 12 months in what it known as a “particular army operation.”

(Reporting by Reuters; Enhancing by Andrew Osborn)