Russian dictator Vladimir Putin is not satisfied with the occupied territories in Ukraine and other countries affected by his terrorist actions - now the Kremlin leader wants to take over the Baltic Sea.
This was stated by Commander of the Swedish Armed Forces, General Micael Bydén, RND reports.
According to him, Putin wants to control the Baltic Sea so that he can have control over the Swedish island of Gotland.
"Yes, I am sure that Putin has both eyes on Gotland. Putin's goal is to gain control of the Baltic Sea. He probably also has his eye on the Åland Islands. The Russians are closely monitoring what is happening at the entrances and exits to the Baltic Sea," the Commander said.
He emphasized that if Russia establishes control and closes the Baltic Sea, it will significantly affect life in Sweden and all other countries in the region.
"We cannot allow this to happen. The Baltic Sea should not become Putin's playground where he can intimidate NATO members," Büden added.
According to him, Gotland is Swedish territory, so Sweden is responsible for its defense, and Gotland has the right to defense.
"There was a time when we reduced our military presence in Gotland to the point where we only had a volunteer unit of the National Guard there. These peaceful times are over. The war in Ukraine changed the political situation in Europe, and we had to massively arm Gotland. Now we are guarding the island with the help of permanently deployed units and temporarily deploy additional forces there if the dangerous situation increases," he explained.
The Commander-in-Chief also said that Sweden is defending Gotland and can also use the island for offensive operations if necessary.
"We are very interested in keeping the sea route open and in controlling what is happening above and below the water surface. From Gotland, we can help other NATO countries in the Baltic Sea to live in security. But if Putin invades Gotland, he could threaten NATO countries from the sea. That would be the end of peace and stability in the Nordic and Baltic regions," added Bydén.
It is worth noting that the Russian authorities have recently decided to unilaterally change the country's maritime borders with Lithuania and Finland in the Baltic Sea. The Russian Ministry of Defense has prepared a document according to which Russia plans to declare part of the waters in the east of the Gulf of Finland and near the cities of Baltiysk and Zelenogradsk in the Kaliningrad Region as its internal sea waters. For this purpose, the geographic coordinates of the points that determine the position of the starting lines from which the width of the territorial sea of the Russian Federation and the adjacent zone near the coast and islands are measured will be changed. On the border with Finland, the government of the Russian Federation intends to adjust the coordinates in the area of the islands of Yahi, Sommers, Holland, Rodscher, Maly Tuters, Vigrund, as well as near the northern entrance to the Narva River, as stated in the annex to the cabinet resolution. On the border with Lithuania, the areas of the Curonian Spit in the Gulf of Gdańsk, the areas of Cape Taran, the cape south of Cape Taran, and the Baltic Spit came under review.
The island of Gotland is the largest Swedish island in the Baltic Sea, it forms the administrative district (län) of Gotland with it's center in Visby.
Earlier, Apostrophe wrote that the Kremlin launched a new fake against Ukraine.