The long-term goal for Russian President Vladimir Putin is to gain political control over all countries that have a historical link to the Russian Empire, Persson emphasizes.
These include Georgia, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan.
But also Belarus, Kazakhstan and Ukraine.
These are mainly countries where Slavic languages are spoken and where Russian Orthodoxy is the predominant religion.
- They do not need to be incorporated into the Russian Federation, but they must be loyal regimes in support of it, she says.
As for Ukraine, in the short term it is a matter of cracking down on the Ukrainian government.
Persson describes in SVT's Aktuellt how she thinks the Kremlin reasons:
- Ukraine must align itself and belong to this Russian sphere together with Belarus, Kazakhstan and so on.
The threat to the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania is relatively small, she believes.
This is despite the fact that the countries border Russia.
- They are members of both the EU and NATO and this has strengthened their security in this case.
Should the Kremlin try to do something against the Baltic states, it will be a really big war.