New NATO battalions ‘not perceived as direct threat in Russia’

The new multinational NATO battalions to be stationed in the Baltic States are not perceived as a direct threat in Russia according to a leading Russian analyst.

“I think that the military battalions in Poland and the Baltic countries are not perceived as a direct threat to Russia. Of course, it is a politically very significant step. But I do not think that the Kremlin will take any aggressive action. I doubt something like what we saw in Ukraine could happen again. Russia understands that the price it had to pay is huge. Therefore, in the near future the Kremlin will refrain from any new conflict escalation,” said Andrei Kortunov, Russian Council on International Relations Director General at the NATO summit in Warsaw.

He said a greater breakthrough in Russian-Lithuanian relations should not be expected:

“There are many problems between the Baltic countries and Russia at the political level. They are mostly related to safety concerns. The relationship is complex. Especially if we talk about Lithuania. NATO countries have finally understood Lithuania: has Putin’s actions convinced them?

“Russian and your country‘s relationship is currently going through a really bad period. I hope that Russia-NATO relations in the coming years will slowly move towards improvement,” said Kortunov.