Russian Foreign Ministry: closing the Baltic for Russia means closing the sea for everyone

If the Baltic Sea is closed to Russian ships, it will also be closed to ships of the North Atlantic Alliance, said Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation Alexander Grushko.

    “People who make decisions in NATO and military strategists are well aware that closing the Baltic Sea to Russia means closing the Baltic Sea to everyone,” Grushko said at the Verona Eurasian Economic Forum in Samarkand.

At the end of October, Latvian leader Edgars Rinkevics announced plans to discuss with NATO the possibility of closing the Baltic Sea to Russian ships if Russia's involvement in the damage to the Balticconnector gas pipeline is confirmed. Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said that damage to the Balticconnector can be equated to an attack on the infrastructure of the North Atlantic Alliance.

In response to these statements at the end of October, Grushko said that the possible closure of the Baltic Sea to Russian ships would be a gross violation of international law.