Russia decides to 'adjust' borders with Lithuania and Finland in Baltic Sea

Archive photo: Russia decides to 'adjust' borders with Lithuania and Finland in Baltic Sea (Getty Images)

The Russian government has decided to unilaterally "change" the country's maritime borders with Lithuania and Finland in the Baltic Sea, according to The Moscow Times.

It is noted that journalists have analyzed the draft resolution of the government, published on the portal of legal acts. It is also pointed out that this document was prepared by the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation.

"Russia intends to declare part of the waters on the eastern side of the Gulf of Finland as its internal waters, as well as near the cities of Baltiysk and Zelenogradsk in the Kaliningrad region," journalists write.

How Russia wants to "change" the border

Russia intends to alter the geographic coordinates of points defining the positions of baseline points from which the width of Russia's territorial sea, adjacent zone near the coast, and islands are measured.

Along the border with Finland, the Russian government plans to adjust the coordinates in the area of the islands of Sommers, Högland, Rodsher, Tyuters, and Vigrund, as well as near the northern entrance cape of the Narva River, according to an appendix to the Cabinet resolution.

On the border with Lithuania, the area of the Curonian Spit in the Gdansk Bay, the areas of Cape Taran, the cape south of Cape Taran, as well as the Baltic Spit have come under review.

How do Russians justify this

The authors of the project justify their actions by stating that the current geographic coordinates, established by a resolution of the Soviet Cabinet in 1985, "do not fully correspond to the current geographical situation."

"The points were fixed 'by small-scale marine navigation charts', which, in turn, are based on works from the mid-20th century, which 'do not allow to determine the outer boundary of Russia's internal waters,'" the document states.

At the same time, the Ministry of Defense proposes to partially "declare invalid" the decades-old resolution of the Soviet Cabinet regulating borders in the Baltic Sea region. However, the document on border review has not yet been officially commented on by the foreign ministries of Finland and Lithuania.

Russia could attack Baltic States

Following the invasion of Ukraine, Western countries began considering the possibility of a Russian attack on NATO members. Many speculate that the Kremlin's target could be the Baltic States.

Recently, Vadym Skibitskyi, Deputy Chief of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, stated that the Russian Federation could capture the Baltic States within seven days, with NATO's response being longer-lasting.