Latest news with #Kaliningrad
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Russia says NATO threatens WWIII in latest deterrence plan that could take down Kaliningrad ‘faster than ever'
Russian officials on Friday clapped back at a recently announced Nato deterrence plan that to looks to unite the alliance's ground response capabilities, and has Moscow particularly worried about the vulnerabilities posed by its highly militarized exclave – Kaliningrad. Warnings rang out from the halls of the Kremlin as one official warned that a deterrence strategy announced this week by U.S. Army Europe and Africa commander Gen. Christopher Donahue amounted to "a plan to unleash World War III with a subsequent global standoff [and] no winners." "An attack on the Kaliningrad region will mean an attack on Russia, with all due retaliatory measures stipulated, among other things, by its nuclear doctrine," chairman of the Russian Parliamentary Committee on International Affairs Leonid Slutsky told the East 2 West media outlet. Russia Threatens West With 'Preemptive Strikes' As Nato Looks To Deliver Patriots 'As Quickly As Possible' Slutsky further claimed that NATO poses a "threat to global security and stability" after Donahue, in explaining the new capabilities being rolled out by the U.S. and NATO militaries, said the alliance has the ability to "take down" Kaliningrad using ground-based operations "in a timeframe that is unheard of and faster than we've ever been able to do." The strategy, dubbed the "Eastern Flank Deterrence Line" and announced by the U.S. general on Wednesday at the Association of the U.S. Army's inaugural LandEuro conference in Wiesbaden, Germany, illustrates how NATO is rethinking its defensive strategy against the region's chief threat – Russia. Read On The Fox News App The plan looks to enhance ground-based capabilities and utilize military-industrial interoperability, specifically in the Baltic region, to effectively counter and eliminate the threat posed by Russia based on lessons learned from the war in Ukraine. While Donahue was not directly threatening Kaliningrad, his comments highlight the vulnerability that the territory – which is situated between Poland and Lithuania on the Baltic Sea and completely cut off from mainland Russia – poses to Moscow. Putin Mum On Trump's 50-Day Ultimatum, Kremlin Officials Claim Russia 'Didn't Care' Renewed focus has been brought to a sparsely populated strip of land known as the Suwalki Corridor, also known as the Suwalki Gap, which runs less than 60 miles in length and marks the Lithuanian-Polish border. But the strip of land is also the only possible direct route between the Russian territory of Kaliningrad and that of ally to Russian President Vladimir Putin, Belarus. "It's Putin's gap. It's our corridor," Russia expert and adjunct senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, Peter Doran, told Fox News Digital. "Putin wants to close it. We must keep it open. "All eyes in the Baltic States are focused on a potential military threat in the next few years, whereby Russia would reconnect the land corridor to Kaliningrad," Doran highlighted. "That's what has got a lot of people paying attention to Russia's military force posture in the Baltic region." Donahue's comments regarding NATO's increased capabilities in the Baltic region not only didn't go unnoticed by Russian leadership, but they highlighted the significant focus there is on the small Russian territory. "Kaliningrad is Russian territory, and such threats are essentially a declaration of war," Sergei Muratov, who serves on the Russian parliamentary committee on defense and security, told the East 2 West outlet. Muratov said a full-scale war with NATO would be a very "different conversation" from the current war in Ukraine. "None of them are ready for this," he added. Fox News Digital could not immediately reach U.S. European Command for article source: Russia says NATO threatens WWIII in latest deterrence plan that could take down Kaliningrad 'faster than ever' Solve the daily Crossword
Fox News
5 days ago
- Politics
- Fox News
Russia says NATO threatens WWIII in latest deterrence plan that could take down Kaliningrad ‘faster than ever'
Russian officials on Friday clapped back at a recently announced NATO deterrence plan that to looks to unite the alliance's ground response capabilities, and has Moscow particularly worried about the vulnerabilities posed by its highly militarized exclave – Kaliningrad. Warnings rang out from the halls of the Kremlin as one official warned that a deterrence strategy announced this week by U.S. Army Europe and Africa commander Gen. Christopher Donahue amounted to "a plan to unleash World War III with a subsequent global standoff [and] no winners." "An attack on the Kaliningrad region will mean an attack on Russia, with all due retaliatory measures stipulated, among other things, by its nuclear doctrine," chairman of the Russian Parliamentary Committee on International Affairs Leonid Slutsky told the East 2 West media outlet. Slutsky further claimed that NATO poses a "threat to global security and stability" after Donahue, in explaining the new capabilities being rolled out by the U.S. and NATO militaries, said the alliance has the ability to "take down" Kaliningrad using ground-based operations "in a timeframe that is unheard of and faster than we've ever been able to do." The strategy, dubbed the "Eastern Flank Deterrence Line" and announced by the U.S. general on Wednesday at the Association of the U.S. Army's inaugural LandEuro conference in Wiesbaden, Germany, illustrates how NATO is rethinking its defensive strategy against the region's chief threat – Russia. The plan looks to enhance ground-based capabilities and utilize military-industrial interoperability, specifically in the Baltic region, to effectively counter and eliminate the threat posed by Russia based on lessons learned from the war in Ukraine. While Donahue was not directly threatening Kaliningrad, his comments highlight the vulnerability that the territory – which is situated between Poland and Lithuania on the Baltic Sea and completely cut off from mainland Russia – poses to Moscow. Renewed focus has been brought to a sparsely populated strip of land known as the Suwalki Corridor, also known as the Suwalki Gap, which runs less than 60 miles in length and marks the Lithuanian-Polish border. But the strip of land is also the only possible direct route between the Russian territory of Kaliningrad and that of ally to Russian President Vladimir Putin, Belarus. "It's Putin's gap. It's our corridor," Russia expert and adjunct senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, Peter Doran, told Fox News Digital. "Putin wants to close it. We must keep it open. "All eyes in the Baltic States are focused on a potential military threat in the next few years, whereby Russia would reconnect the land corridor to Kaliningrad," Doran highlighted. "That's what has got a lot of people paying attention to Russia's military force posture in the Baltic region." Donahue's comments regarding NATO's increased capabilities in the Baltic region not only didn't go unnoticed by Russian leadership, but they highlighted the significant focus there is on the small Russian territory. "Kaliningrad is Russian territory, and such threats are essentially a declaration of war," Sergei Muratov, who serves on the Russian parliamentary committee on defense and security, told the East 2 West outlet. Muratov said a full-scale war with NATO would be a very "different conversation" from the current war in Ukraine. "None of them are ready for this," he added. Fox News Digital could not immediately reach U.S. European Command for comment.
The Sun
5 days ago
- Politics
- The Sun
US general threatens ‘faster than ever' attack on crucial Russian enclave – as Putin's henchmen warn of ‘unleashing WW3'
A SENIOR US Army general has threatened to launch a "faster than ever" attack on a Russian WW3 flashpoint. General Christopher Donahue, commander of the United States Army Europe and Africa, said Nato could capture Kaliningrad - Moscow's strategic military in the heart of Europe. 7 7 7 7 Wedged between Poland and Lithuania, the region of Kaliningrad is heavily militarised. It is cut off from the rest of Putin's empire, but could be used by the tyrant to launch an attack on Europe. Using the strategic enclave, the Russians could also take over the Suwalki Gap - a hard-to-defend strip of land less than 60 miles wide that links the rest of the Nato countries to the Baltic nations. Speaking to Defense News, the American general said that Nato has developed a plan to capture the location in case of a full-scale conflict with Russia. He said: "You can now take [Kaliningrad] down from the ground in a timeframe that is unheard of and faster than we've ever been able to do. "We've already planned that and we've already developed it. "The mass and momentum problem that Russia poses to us… we've developed the capability to make sure that we can stop that mass and momentum problem." The Kremlin has ramped up its nuclear rhetoric after the threats - with Putin's henchmen accusing the US of "unleashing World War Three". The tirade from Moscow comes as the Kremlin pushes on with its war against Ukraine - launching nightly bombing raids to wreak havoc. Meanwhile, Trump agreed to sell defence systems to Ukraine and slap brutal 100 per cent tariffs on Russia if Moscow does not reach a peace agreement with Ukraine within 50 days. Putin defies Trump's ultimatum and BOMBARDS Ukraine – as Kremlin mouthpiece warns Russia will 'turn Kyiv into Hiroshima' Leonid Slutsky, the hardline chairman of the Russian Parliamentary Committee on International Affairs, warned: 'An attack on the Kaliningrad region will mean an attack on Russia, with all due retaliatory measures - stipulated, among other things, by its nuclear doctrine.' He accused the US general of voicing 'a plan to unleash World War Three with a subsequent global standoff [and] no winners'. Slutsky said: 'The US general should take this into account before making such statements.' Politician Sergei Muratov from the Russian parliamentary committee on defence and security said: 'Kaliningrad is Russian territory, and such threats are essentially a declaration of war." He claimed Russia was acting 'humanely' in Ukraine - but a full-scale war with NATO would be a 'different conversation'. Kaliningrad MP Andrei Kolesnik added Nato 'don't have the guts' to take on Russia. Military expert Ivan Konovalov said: 'This is still a Russian region that has strategic importance, and it is very well protected. 'Any attempt to act provocatively against the Kaliningrad region will provoke retaliatory actions by all armed forces of the Russian Federation.' What is the Suwalki Gap? THE 60-mile strip Suwalki Gap is wedged between Belarus and the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad. It has massive strategic importance for NATO and the EU - as well as Russia - if conflict were to erupt. For the West, it is the only land link to the three ex-Soviet Baltic republics - Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia - which are seen as vulnerable to Putin if the current east-west tension worsens. For Russia, control of the corridor would give a land link to Kaliningrad, the main base of Putin's Baltic Fleet. The Suwalki Gap, spanning the Polish-Lithuanian border, has seen an influx of troops as NATO nations strengthen their borders for fear of provocation from Russian-linked Belarus. 7 7 The US slammed Russia's nuclear rhetoric. American state department spokeswoman said: "Regarding any kind of nuclear commentary or preemptive strikes, etc, let's just say that rhetoric does not improve regional security.' She warned that 'as President Trump has said, the word nuclear should not be treated casually, and we have seen these kinds of reckless and unhelpful statements before'. The US remained committed to ending the war in Ukraine 'peacefully, hopefully through diplomacy'. It comes after ex-Russian president Dmitry Medvedev said that WW3 has already begun and that his boss Putin should bomb the West. Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council, raged that Nato and the West are effectively already at war with Russia as he pushed the Kremlin's view that his country is the victim. That's despite it being Russia who invaded Ukraine and is continuing to wage a bloody war. Medvedev accused the US and Europe of an attempt to 'destroy' Russia which is 'hated by the West', he claimed. Diplomats say his remarks give an indication of the thinking among some within the Moscow political elite. 7
Free Malaysia Today
14-07-2025
- Politics
- Free Malaysia Today
Russia closing Polish consulate in tit-for-tat move
Poland accused Russia of orchestrating a fire that destroyed a Warsaw shopping centre last year. (EPA Images pic) MOSCOW : Russia said today it would close Poland's consulate in Kaliningrad, a Moscow exclave near Poland and Lithuania, after Warsaw decided to shut the Russian consulate in Krakow. Diplomatic ties between Moscow and Warsaw have been historically strained and frayed further over Russia's offensive in Ukraine, which Poland is supporting politically and with military aid. In May, Poland ordered the Russian consulate in the southern city of Krakow shut after authorities accused Moscow of orchestrating a fire that destroyed a Warsaw shopping centre last year. Poland – a Nato and European Union member – is one of the main countries through which western nations supply weapons and ammunition to Kyiv. Russia vowed an 'adequate response' and today the foreign ministry said it was 'withdrawing consent for the functioning of the consulate general of Poland in Kaliningrad from Aug 29'. It also said Poland's charge d'affaires in Russia was summoned and handed a formal note announcing the move. 'This step was caused by the unfounded and hostile actions of the Polish side, expressed in the reduction of the Russian consular presence on the territory of Poland,' it added. In May 2024, Poland imposed restrictions on the movements of Russian diplomats on its soil, due to Moscow's 'involvement' in what it called a 'hybrid war'. Poland later ordered the closure of Russia's consulate in Poznan and said it was willing to close the other consulates if acts of 'terrorism' continued. In January, Russia closed the Polish consulate in St Petersburg in retaliation.
Al Jazeera
11-07-2025
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
Russia closing Polish consulate in Kaliningrad in tit-for-tat move
Russia says it will close Poland's consulate in Kaliningrad, a Russian exclave between Poland and Lithuania, after Warsaw decided to shut down the Russian consulate in Krakow. The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced the move on Friday. This follows Poland ordering the Russian consulate in the southern city of Krakow to shut in May after authorities accused Moscow of orchestrating a fire that destroyed a Warsaw shopping centre last year. The May 12, 2024, arson destroyed more than 1,000 shops at the Marywilska 44 centre, but no one was injured. Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski accused Russian special services of involvement, saying there was evidence they had committed a 'reprehensible act of sabotage' against the centre. Russia denied any involvement in the attack. In May, Russia promised an 'adequate response' to Poland's move, and on Friday, the Foreign Ministry said it was 'withdrawing consent for the functioning of the Consulate General of Poland in Kaliningrad from August 29'. It also said Poland's charge d'affaires in Russia was summoned and handed a formal note announcing the move, citing 'unfriendly' and 'unjustified' actions by the Polish government. 'This step was caused by the unfounded and hostile actions of the Polish side, expressed in the reduction of the Russian consular presence on the territory of Poland,' it added. Strained ties Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Pawel Wronski said Russia's decision to close the consulate was unjustified. The possibility of this decision 'was taken into account by the Foreign Ministry', he told reporters on Friday. But he added that this 'doesn't mean that it is a legitimate decision'. 'Unlike Russia, Poland does not engage in sabotage, cyberattacks or conduct actions against the Russian state,' he said. He added that Poland would 'respond adequately' to the decision, without elaborating. Diplomatic ties between Moscow and Warsaw have been historically strained and have frayed further over Russia's war in Ukraine. Poland, a NATO and European Union member, is one of the main countries through which Western nations supply weapons and ammunition to Kyiv. In May 2024, Poland imposed restrictions on the movements of Russian diplomats on its soil due to Moscow's 'involvement' in what it called a 'hybrid war'. Poland later ordered the closure of Russia's consulate in Poznan and said it was willing to close the other consulates if acts of 'terrorism' continued. In January, Russia closed the Polish consulate in St Petersburg in retaliation. Apart from the embassies, both countries now only have one consulate left on their respective territories.
