Poland and the Baltic states would be “the first to suffer” in a direct conflict between NATO and the Russian Federation, Sergey Naryshkin, director of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), said on the 15th of April, citing Russian state news agency TASS, reports Kyiv Independent.
Since Moscow launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, NATO’s eastern flank countries have raised the alarm over the growing threat from Russia.
Any NATO aggression against Russia or Belarus would have devastating consequences for Poland and the Baltic states of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, Naryshkin said.
“They should understand, but they do not yet understand, that in the event of North Atlantic Alliance aggression against (Russia and Belarus), of course the entire NATO bloc will be harmed, but the first to suffer will be the bearers of such ideas in the political circles of Poland and the Baltic States,” Naryshkin said.
HE SAID THESE COUNTRIES HAVE SHOWN “GREAT AGGRESSION” TOWARDS RUSSIA, ACCUSING POLAND AND THE BALTICS OF “CONSTANT ARMS RATTLING”.
Naryshkin singled out Poland for its plans to plant anti-personnel mines along its border with Belarus and Russia’s heavily militarised Kaliningrad exclave, as well as Warsaw’s request to the US to deploy nuclear weapons in Poland.
Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland announced on the 18th of March their withdrawal from the Ottawa Convention, an international treaty banning the use, production and stockpiling of anti-personnel mines, citing a “significant deterioration” in security in the region.
The four countries’ defence ministers said the military threat from Russia and Belarus had “significantly increased”.
Naryshkin called this “sad” and suggested that NATO was to blame for the all-out war launched by Russia against Ukraine. This is an oft-repeated propaganda narrative of the Kremlin used to justify the unprovoked invasion of a sovereign country.
“(Poland and the Baltic States) simply fail to understand that it is precisely the increase in military activity on the borders of Russia and Belarus that became one of the factors, one of the reasons for the current major, acute and very dangerous crisis on the European continent,” stated Naryshkin.
This narrative has gained support among some members of US President Donald Trump’s administration, including Trump himself.
While Russian officials are ramping up rhetoric against NATO members, the White House is reportedly planning to drastically cut funding for the alliance. The US also appears to be planning to withdraw around 10 000 troops from member states in Eastern Europe.
On the 13th of April, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned that if Russia is not stopped in Ukraine, its next step could be to seize NATO territory and trigger a global conflict. Western leaders and intelligence agencies have warned of the possibility of a large-scale war in Europe in the next five years due to Russia’s increasing aggression.