Having closely observed the painful trial-and-error process of refuting Russian aggression by Ukraine, the three Baltic states at the forefront of renewed Russia-NATO confrontation are hoping to avoid treading in the same footsteps, Deutsche Welle reported in its article titled “NATO in Baltics learns from Ukraine's mistakes.”
U.S. Vice President Mike Pence is in Estonia for talks on military support with the three Baltic members of NATO, to assure them the United States supports its allies who are concerned about Russian expansionism, Voice of America (VOA) reports.
Suspected Russia-backed hackers have launched exploratory cyber attacks against the energy networks of the Baltic states, sources said, raising security concerns inside the West's main military alliance, NATO, according to Reuters.
U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said on Wednesday that a Russian missile deployment near the Baltic states was "destabilizing", and officials suggested the United States could deploy a Patriot missile battery in the region for NATO exercises in the summer, according to Reuters.
Republican Paul Ryan, the speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, has said U.S. support for NATO is "unequivocal, unambiguous" during a meeting with Estonian leaders in Tallinn, according to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL).
Unlike Sputnik News, a younger brother to the globally-known TV channel RT, which opened offices around the world, including in the three Baltic capitals, another news portal for the region’s sizeable Russian-speaking minority, Baltnews tried to keep its connections to Russia secret, according to an investigation by Re:Baltica.