There have been calls for calm in Finland and the Baltic states after a draft Russian decree proposed revising its borders in the Baltic Sea.
Finnish President Alexander Stubb said over-reacting would be the worst mistake, and he said political leaders were watching the situation closely.
Latvia said it was trying to clarify the situation, but Lithuania warned that the Kremlin was aiming to intimidate its neighbours with a “deliberate, targeted escalatory provocation”.
The draft Russian defence ministry decree suggested moving the sea borders around Russian islands in the Gulf of Finland and around the exclave of Kaliningrad.
The decree was first highlighted on Tuesday, when Russia’s Tass news agency and other media reported on its proposal to redraw old borders dating back to the Soviet era in January 1985.
It was not immediately clear if the draft proposed extending its borders into Finnish waters in the Baltic or Lithuanian waters near Kaliningrad. However, it would have included territory in the eastern Gulf of Finland, several islands close to the Finnish coast and areas near the two cities of Baltiysk and Zelenogradsk in Kaliningrad.
Finland and the Baltic states are all members of the EU and Nato and the military alliance is committed to defending their borders.
Credit: bbc.com
