Russian authorities have decided to unilaterally change the country's maritime borders with Lithuania and Finland in the Baltic Sea. According to the document prepared by the Ministry of Defense, Russia intends to declare as its own a part of the waters east of the Gulf of Finland near the cities of Baltiysk and Zelenogradsk in the Kaliningrad region.
The Kremlin said that the proposal had no political background, but that tensions in the region are increasing.
"There is nothing political here even though the political situation has changed a lot. You can see how much tensions have increased and where the level of confrontation has gone in the Baltic region," said Dmitry Peskov.
Lithuania reacted with concern, describing the move as a clear escalation against NATO and the EU. The foreign minister said that an appropriate and decisive response was needed.
While the Finnish authorities said that they were investigating the information and that they would act calmly based on the facts.
So, Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas accused Russia of waging a "shadow war" against the West through acts of sabotage, espionage or cyber attacks.
States near borders with Russia such as Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Finland and Poland are rapidly increasing defense capabilities amid fears of possible attacks from Moscow.