Russia does not pose a threat to the Baltic countries. This opinion was expressed by the Permanent Representative of the United States to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) James Gilmore.

“The Baltic states are largely part of what is now called Western society, and we do not believe that there is any threat to them at present,” Gilmore told reporters.

He explained that Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia may not be afraid of Russia, as they are members of NATO. Moreover, the military personnel of these countries take part in the exercises of the North Atlantic Alliance, however, these maneuvers, as the US Permanent Representative to the OSCE assures, do not threaten the Russian people.

Earlier, officials from the United States and Baltic countries repeatedly spoke about the alleged threat from Russia. One of the last such statements was made by Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda.

Note that in April - May, under the leadership of the United States, one of the largest NATO exercises in 2020, DEFENDER-Europe 20, will be held. They will involve about 37 thousand troops from 17 countries. Moreover, these maneuvers will become the largest in more than 25 years, the transfer of troops directly from the US to the European continent. In this regard, the Bundestag called for abandoning the "deployment of troops on the Russian border" and emphasized that since 2014, NATO has carried out four times more exercises on its eastern flank than the Russian Federation for its part.

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However, the American diplomat said that the United States of America with the position that the Baltic states were part of the USSR. According to him, these countries were "conquered by force" and Washington never considered them part of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

“In the same way, we will defend this idea (about the inadmissibility of the annexation of territories by military means in Europe. - RT ) until changes occur. In Russia, the approach to foreign policy must change. So far this has not happened, but one day it will happen, and in the meantime, the United States will remain faithful to its principles, as well as the principle of the Helsinki Final Act, ”the US Permanent Representative to the OSCE explained, speaking about Washington’s position on Crimea.

In addition, the diplomat also announced the allegedly terrifying situation on the Crimean peninsula - Crimean Tatars are allegedly under severe pressure, in addition, independent media are blocked.

Crimea became the Russian region after a referendum held there in March 2014, in which most residents spoke out for reunification with Russia. Earlier, the Russian embassy in the United States indicated that representatives of the US administration “over the past six years have not bothered to visit the peninsula and see for themselves the real state of affairs.” In this regard, diplomats called on Washington to "stop misleading the public," in particular noting that a cathedral mosque should be completed in Simferopol by the end of the year.

“We are ready to receive representatives of the administration in official status in the Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol. We are sure that after such a visit all Washington’s concerns will be removed forever, ”the report said.

Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia became part of the USSR in 1940 following the implementation of secret protocols to the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. At the same time, the West de facto recognized the integrity of the borders of the USSR following the results of the Yalta and Potsdam conferences, as well as in the framework of the Helsinki Final Act of 1975, which refers to the inviolability of European borders.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia indicates that the accession of states did not contradict international law at that time. In February, Russian Ambassador to Lithuania Alexander Udaltsov recalled that in Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, throughout the entire period of their stay as part of the USSR, there were national authorities, which in 1990 adopted a decision leading to their secession from the USSR.

“For the legal assessment of the situation that developed in the Baltics in the 1930s, the term“ military occupation ”cannot be used, since there was no state of war between the USSR and the Baltic states, there was no military action without declaration of war, and troops were sent from clearly expressed consent of the authorities of these republics, ”the diplomat pointed out.

"Duality of the Russian threat"

The first deputy chairman of the Federation Council committee on international affairs, Vladimir Dzhabarov, called the statement of the US Permanent Representative to the OSCE James Gilmore incorrect.

“By signing the Yalta Agreements - once, and by signing an agreement on the OSCE in 1975 on the inviolability of borders, they recognized the legality of the republics being part of the USSR. As for the Crimea, this is a completely different story. Crimea is the territory of the Russian Federation and it returned to Russia absolutely legally, according to the Constitution of the autonomous republic of Crimea. Whether they will recognize Crimea as our territory, they won’t - Crimea won’t leave us from this, ”RT said.

Speaking about the absence of a Russian threat to the Baltic states, the senator noted that this factor is used by the United States and NATO to deploy weapons in this region.

“It is clear why this is done in order to place NATO bases and air defense systems closer to our borders - at this moment Russia poses a“ threat ”to the Baltic countries, when all these issues are resolved, the topic of“ threat ”disappears by itself.” - said Dzhabarov.

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In turn, the State Duma deputy from Crimea Ruslan Balbek pointed out that the politicians of the Baltic countries in an effort to please Washington themselves came up with a "Russian threat", in particular, for financial preferences.

“Thus, someone’s“ hot ”fantasies became a whole political direction. At the same time, none of the leaders of the Baltic countries brought a single more or less credible argument regarding the alleged Russian threat, ”Balbek said in a conversation with RT.