Russia recently announced a unilateral action to redefine the maritime boundaries of the Baltic Sea, triggering high tensions with neighboring countries and the NATO alliance, sharply increasing the risk of conflict.
According to a draft regulation released by the Russian Ministry of Defense, they will adjust the latitude and longitude coordinates of islands and other coastal areas bordering Finland and Lithuania.
Starting from January 2025, Russia's territorial waters in the Baltic Sea will significantly expand.
This move has aroused strong dissatisfaction from Finland and Lithuania.
The Finnish president stated that they would closely monitor the situation, while the foreign minister openly criticized Russia for causing chaos.
The Lithuanian foreign minister directly criticized Moscow, accusing it of provoking NATO and the EU and escalating the risk of conflict.
NATO and other countries in the region are concerned that Russia's expansion of territorial waters may be a prelude to military conflict.
Analysts believe that this move is evidently one of Moscow's retaliatory actions against NATO's recent plans to restrict Russian vessels' navigation in the Baltic Sea.
As early as early May, Russia warned NATO that any attempt to obstruct Russian vessels' navigation would face severe countermeasures.
Russia's expansion of maritime sovereignty is a step towards fulfilling its previous threats.
It is noteworthy that while the Russian Ministry of Defense announced the maritime boundary changes, the Russian military conducted a tactical nuclear weapons exercise in the Southern Military District, using advanced equipment such as the "Dagger" hypersonic missile, sending a strong signal to the West.
Russia's stance is tough, indicating its bottom line to NATO.
At the same time, faced with pressure from NATO, Moscow is escalating its response measures, leading to a high level of confrontation.
Russia is not only consolidating its geopolitical advantage on the European continent but also intensifying its sovereignty at sea.
In such a situation, NATO is facing unprecedented pressure and containment.
Both sides are currently in a tense strategic balance, and any strategic mistake by either side that crosses the other's red line could lead to the outbreak of war on the European continent at any time.
This situation is worrying because the geopolitical interests and strategic objectives of both sides are completely opposed.
Russia is eager to revive its great power status, while NATO sees it as the number one threat and spares no effort to suppress and contain Russia.
In this conflicting contradiction, any diplomatic policy misstep could potentially trigger a comprehensive military confrontation between the two sides.
At present, both sides are struggling to maintain a fragile state of neither war nor peace, but this status quo is unlikely to last long and will eventually change.
Let's wait and see and calmly observe the development of the situation.
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