MOSCOW May 05. 2024 (Saba) - Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, in response to a question about the possible complete severance of relations between Russia and the Baltic states, emphasized that Moscow will not be the initiator of this, as quoted by the Russian news agency "Novosti".
"Due to the hostile line on the part of the Baltic countries, practically all contacts between Russia and these countries have been cut off," Novosti quoted Zakharova as saying, stressing that Russia will continue to use diplomatic measures to influence the Baltic countries, but does not want to go to the extent of ending the activities of diplomatic missions, taking into account the presence of a large number of Russian-speaking citizens living there.
Zakharova noted that in Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, persecution of Russian-speaking parties, politically motivated arrests and fabrication of criminal cases against opponents have become commonplace.
She added: "Under the pretext of national security threats, Russian citizens are being deported from the Baltic states. The pace of Russophobia and discrimination is increasing, including bullying of children in schools and even kindergartens, the Russian language has been almost completely excluded from all spheres of public life, including the education system, and the Russian media presence has been eliminated. By decision of the authorities, all five consular offices in the Baltic states were closed in 2022. But a complete severance of diplomatic relations in this situation would mean that hundreds of thousands of our citizens living in the Baltic states would be left alone. We absolutely do not want to reach this point, however, we will continue to use diplomatic procedures."
Zakharova noted that the Russian side recently expelled two diplomats from Latvia and one from Estonia as retaliatory steps.
She emphasized that Moscow will respond to the hostile actions of the Baltic states with asymmetric measures in the economic and transit sphere.
Zakharova recalled that the retaliatory steps taken, including the redirection of cargo flows to Russia's northwestern ports, had an extremely negative impact on the economy of the Baltic republics.
H.H
resource : Saba
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