Against the backdrop of continuing Russian advances, some Western leaders have started to advocate missile strikes inside Russian territory, from NATO’s Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg up to chief warmonger, former British Premier Boris Johnson:
Now, some European neighboring countries have started preparing to introduce their troops into Ukraine in case of strategic Russian advances in Eastern Ukraine.
The Baltic states and Poland have warned Germany that they could send troops to Ukraine if the situation gets noticeably worse for Kiev due to its allies being reluctant to supply it with weapons.
Reported by Der Spiegel (behind paywall):
“If the Russians succeed in a strategic breakthrough in eastern Ukraine because the West is reluctant to help Kiev, the situation could escalate sharply. In this case, the Baltic countries and Poland will not wait for Russian troops to deploy on their borders, Baltic politicians warn, they will send troops themselves to Ukraine.”
That would make NATO a party to the conflict—exactly what German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and US President Joe Biden fear.
Scholz has once again repeated that he opposes revising the rules giving Kiev the opportunity to strike them on Russian territory.
Berlin does not want the conflict to escalate into a conflict between Russia and NATO.
Some incidents are already taking place. Simplicius the Thinker reported on Russian troops dismantling navigation buoys on the Narva River between Russia and Estonia:
“In the video, Russian border guards dismantle navigation buoys installed by Estonia.
The line of control on the Narva River is reviewed every spring as the course of the river changes over time.
Before the outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine, the buoys were mainly installed by mutual agreement between Russia and Estonia, but since 2023 the Russian side no longer agrees with Estonia’s position on the location of the buoys, the Estonian department reports.”
At the same time, Russia proposed moving Russia’s border within the Baltic Sea:
“‘Russian Ministry of Defense proposed moving Russia’s border with Lithuania and Finland in the Baltic Sea.
Russia believes that the current border was approved in 1985 and does not correspond to the current ‘geographical situation’.”
Estonian paper Yle reported on the reaction of President Alar Karis:
“According to the president, the most important thing right now is stopping the Russian war machine.
‘We will do everything we can to bring Russia and Putin to their knees. Then serious discussions can begin to end the war in Ukraine’.
[…] Finland has closed its eastern border, but the border between Estonia and Russia is still open despite the incidents.
According to Alar Karis, the border is open, among other things, because people on the surface of the border have relatives on the other side. The border will be closed if necessary.”